The End of Perfect
by emberlies
Summary: You would be a monster if you went around gleefully murdering and feeding off of children. That is a monster! You are not that, you are not a monster!" I had more to add but I could not continue as his lips collided with mine."I am sorry," he whispered
1. Chapter 1

_Ok I am just getting down how this site works and this is my first story to actually try and go through with so please go easy on me. I have a habit of over criticizing my self so this story may be slow in coming and if I don't get very many reviews I will probably not go very far with it. Also these are all my own characters. They are mine I came up with them and own them. Please do not steal them. Now that is taking care of, Enjoy! :)_

Chapter 1

All I can think about is something has to happen. Something is going to come up and ruin it all. It is too good to be true and to have lasted this long. My Life has been perfect for too long.

It was two years ago and my life sucked. Now I will admit it was a lot better than others. Not everybody has a millionaire for a dad. But my step mother and her son were another story. I knew she was only with him for the money and it was like her son was obsessed with me. He would follow me everywhere and I would always see him staring at me. I only had my mother and sister to talk to about it, they would not say I was being ridiculous and should appreciate what I have but then again head stones can not talk back. I felt so alone and would try and talk to my dad about it but he was oblivious to everything. So I put up a wall around me to keep everything out.

Then it happened. My dad was killed. The investigator suspected foul play, but no evidence was ever found. The only justification I got out of it was that no matter how much he said he loved my step mother he didn't leave that gold digger a cent. I spent the next couple of months in and out of court since she was trying to fight to get the money. And though I hated her I finally agreed to give her ten million out of the estate, so that her and her son would go away.

Next thing I know I am in all the tabloids. They are saying that I am one of the richest teens in America. Though I had never really considered my self a teen since my mom passed away when I was sixteen. I was always mature for my age, and I took up the role of woman of the house. That is until my step mother, came into the picture. But I was all done with that now.

I split up my dad's estate. I kept sixty million in a savings so that I should never have any worries and so that I could make sure I would be able to maintain the up keep of my family home. The other eighty million I split up and gave to charities. Apparently every one in America either thought I was crazy or a saint, but I didn't care. Let them think what they want I just wanted my own privacy.

I could not stay in my families home by myself, it was too big and seemed to empty. My parents were simplistic people that hoped for a big family so they bought a colonial style home with six bedrooms on a thousand acres so that my mother could have her horses. But my mother almost died having me and was told she could no longer have kids. Then a miracle happened when I was fifteen, my mother found out she was pregnant. She was doing so good till she was seven months along. I lost both, my mother and baby sister.

This house had too many bad memories that out weighed the good. I still could not sell it but I didn't have to live there. So I left our home in Tennessee and moved to England. My dad owned some land with a stable there so I could bring my horse. I bought a small house close to the stable so as not to draw to much attention to myself, and started to continue my college education.

It has been two years now and life has been perfect. I am almost finished with college and other than a boyfriend and one close friend, I have been able to keep my own privacy from the media. It had been two years now and tomorrow I would be turning twenty two. And for some reason I felt like something terrible was going to happen. My life could never be this good. Every thing good must come to an end.

I found my self out at the stables again. These past couple of days I haven't been able to get my family off my mind. So I come out here to the stables and find comfort with my horse, lil. I had my arms wrapped around her neck just taking in the scent of the stables when I noticed something was off. I even felt lil tense. I got that all to familiar feeling that some one was watching me. When I turned around I actually expected to see my old step brother but no one was there. I talked my self down trying to calm my nerves. I gave my horse one last pat and headed to my car. As I opened the door the wind picked up and scarred me so bad I jumped in my car as fast as I could and locked the doors. I sat there for a minute scanning my surroundings. When nothing seemed out of place I started up my car and headed home, still unable to shake the feeling that I was being watched.

I pulled up to my house and ran inside. As I leaned against the front door I laughed at myself for being so paranoid but I still locked the door as I headed up the stairs to get ready for bed. After a shower and putting on some underwear and a black tank top I set to the task of taming my hair. I sat in front of the vanity and just stared at my reflection. The first thing I notice anytime I look in the mirror is the mark on my right cheek. I don't know how it got there as far as I know it has been there since I was born. It was just a couple shades lighter than my skin which meant it was white, cause that is the only shade lighter than my pale complexion. It was shaped like a crescent moon and I had always assumed it was a scar, seeing as how I don't remember ever hearing about birth marks like it. With out even realizing I had done it, I had my finger touching my face and was tracing the shape of the scar. I looked down at my hand and just shook my head.

It was when I looked back up in the mirror I saw how tired I looked. These past nights I have been having weird dreams so I hadn't been able to sleep very well and you could tell. My normal light green eyes looked dark, lifeless and the bags under them didn't help. My dark blonde hair went down to the middle of my back and was all tangled up. So I pushed all negative thoughts to the back of my head and went to attacking my hair with my brush. After about five minutes I finally got it straightened out. As I looked back up at my reflection I got a chill down my spin and it went straight into the pit of my stomach. I got that feeling again that something was going to happen. Everything has been to perfect lately. I shook the feeling off and decided it was time for bed. I crawled into bed and my last thought was that maybe tomorrow wont be as bad as I keep thinking and for once I might get some good sleep.

_I was in this strange dream again where it felt like I was watching a movie. It was always the same. I never played a part in the dream . I just watched what everyone else was doing. Well tonight I was going to try and control the dream. I started out in the same room. It looked like it was in a castle. There were stone floors and walls. Candles lit up the room causing shadows to bounce off the wall when a breeze would come in through the open window. I turned to look at the huge canopy bed in the center of the room. It looked warm and inviting. The sheets were a soft brown with a plush earth green comforter that had a gorgeous gold swirled design stitched into it. I resisted the urge to follow the dream and walk out the door and head down the hallway to the library. Instead I walked over to the window and looked out to see what appeared to look just like a modern day town. I was not expecting that. I figured I was having some middle aged renaissance dream. _

_Just as I was leaning out the window to try and get a better look and maybe figure out were this castle was the door opened. I turned to see a handsome man walk through the door. He was tall, with dark brown hair that was shaggy down to his ears, he had dark blue eyes with a small red ring around the pupil that contrasted with his blue eyes and pale skin. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a tight black shirt that showed off his toned body. As I was checking him out a name came to my lips, "Drayton." The man's head snapped up in my direction. I just stared in shock as I realized I had spoke. I never did that in this dream. Maybe it was because I tried to take control. But before I could contemplate any longer the man who I assumed was Drayton started walking towards me. Everything in my mind yelled at me to run but I couldn't move. He walked right up to me and stopped just inches in front of me. _

_I tensed up not knowing what to expect. Then he looked around and stepped forward. He went right through me to the window and looked outside still searching for the one who said his name. He shook his head and running his hand through his hair he finally spoke, "Man I need some rest. I am starting to hear things." He smiled and laughed to himself and I felt like my heart melted at the sound. His voice was breathtaking and his smile made me want to faint. I decided it was time to get out of here before I did anything else. So I headed for the door and with out thinking I closed it behind me. Next thing I knew Drayton had flung the door open and was looking down the hallway. "oops," I said before slapping my hand over my mouth. He raised his eyebrows and looked right at me. He said three words as he sniffed the air, before shaking his head and closing the door, "Mynx? That's impossible." _

_At that word my body shuttered and everything went blurry as the wind whipped around me. I was traveling really fast and I knew I was going to throw up, when I suddenly came to a stop. I was in what looked to be like a dungeon. I was in a different castle I could tell cause the sounds outside. I no longer heard the town but instead I heard birds and what sounded like running water. There must be a creek near by. Then I noticed the sun coming in through the window that sat up high on the wall. Wow it is a completely different time of day. I was contemplating what all I had heard and seen when my train of thought was broken by the sound of a woman crying. I started looking through the cells to find the woman. When I came to a cell near the back of the room. I looked in to see her chained to the wall. Her long dark blond hair was over her face as she hung her head low sobbing. I couldn't stop my self. I ran to her and touched her arm, "Are you alright?" Her head shot up at my voice and touch. I stopped breathing as I looked at her face. I heard the door to the room open and a man talking to himself but I couldn't move. Her eyes widened in terror as the man came to her cell. I looked at the man and he was staring right at me a shocked look on his face. Then she started yelling at me, " Wake up Everly! You must wake up!" the man had a sinister smile on his face as he came towards me. The last thing I heard was her scream, "Everly!" then all was black._

I don't know how long I stayed in the dark until I finally realized that I had my eyes closed. I slowly opened them to see the sunlight coming through my bedroom window. I sat up fast and all I could think of was that woman's face. Her long dark blonde hair, her light green eyes, and on her right cheek was a scar like mine but instead of a crescent moon it was a star.

"What the hell was that?"


	2. Chapter 2

_Ok It may have taken awhile to get this next chapter up, but here it is. Sorry it took a while I was really busy this past week and with this being my first story I have been pretty hard on myself about it. The more I read over the first chapter the more flaws I see and want to change stuff. But I am trying not to. So I haven't gotten any reviews yet so I might do a couple of chapters, but if I don't get any reviews I will just stop. Because to me no reviews means no readers. So here we go_

_Chapter 2_

I couldn't get her face out of my head. She looked just like me and if it wasn't for her having the sun instead of the moon on her cheek I would have thought she was me. How did she know my name? My dream never turned out like that.

I would always start out in the castle. Then I would go out the door and walk down the hall way to the library. The library was huge and it had the largest balcony I have ever seen. In the dream I would walk out on to the balcony. It extended over a garden maze. As I would step out to look down at the garden the dream would move me to the center of the maze. In the center of the maze was a small courtyard that had a beautiful fountain in the center. The fountain on one side depicted a beautiful angelic looking woman carved out of white marble. She was carved to look like she was staring at her out stretched hands. The look of sorrow and pain carved on her face left the impression that the love she had been holding had left her.

The Other side of the fountain was depicting a man carved out of black marble. He was standing there with his hands held out before him palms up facing the sky. He was tall and had intricately carved muscles that made me think he was carved to be the embodiment of the perfect male form. The expression on his upturned face was one of pure rage as he yelled at the sky as if in defiance and yet I could see that there was pain there. He had his large wings extended out as if he was about to take flight. And as always I would take a closer look at the man and would see the fangs in his mouth. I would stand there and just stare at this fountain, mainly the man, knowing that it was carved to tell some kind of story between the man and woman who had their backs turned to each other. Then the fountain would always turn on and water would come shooting up between the woman and the man only to come back raining down on them. Which only seemed to deepen the emotional pull I felt to this fountain.

I would always feel the tears slowly coming down my cheeks as I would turn to see a man come walking into the courtyard. he would always walk up to the fountain and just stare at it until a man and woman would come walking in from the other direction. And though it was always to dark to make out any of their features their was no denying by the bulge of her belly that the woman was pregnant and well along at that. The men would talk of how the woman was special and that her baby was very important to everyone. I could never hear all they were saying just a couple of words here and there. But the outcome was always the same. The men would agree to some sort of plan and then they would turn from each other and all would leave the way they came.

Then I would wake up. Maybe this time was different cause I took control of the dream and ignored how it would pull on my body urging it to follow the set path. I was broke out of my train of thought as my cell phone went off blaring my ring tone, decode by paramore. I reached over to the night stand and looked at the name. Brent. I didn't want to talk to him yet so I set my phone back down. Brent was my so called boyfriend. I have this wall built up and I don't let anyone in. I don't like letting people in close cause when you do you just end up getting hurt or hurting them. Brent and I had a very simple relationship. We would go on dates and hangout together. We would kiss and hold hands. But never anything else. I could tell that he wanted more, but I just wasn't sure I was ready to let him in. So I made the decision to slowly chip away at my thick wall and try and let him a little closer. I truly did like him and a part of me did want more but I just couldn't change how I was in one minute. So if he truly loved me like he said he would learn to wait for me and respect my choice.

The only other person there was in my life was Jenny. She was the closest thing I had to a friend since I had moved here and cut off all the ties to the people in my life back in the states. I had just started fully opening up to her this past month. I felt I could trust her and yet something always seemed off. But I could never put my finger on it so I just assumed it was my wall that I couldn't tear down just yet. That had to be it cause she was always there for me if I needed her so how could it be anything else.

Then my phone started ringing again. It was Brent. I went ahead and answered. "Hey" I said trying to sound as sleepy as I could so that he wouldn't know that I had ignored his first call. "Hey babe I was just calling to tell you happy birthday and that tonight me and jenny are going to take you out for some fun. So I know you have classes and all but just make sure you are done with everything and ready to go by eight tonight alright?"

"Why? Yall know I am not big on going out and I don't think my birthday is anything special." even though I had lived here for two years I don't think I would ever lose my hick accent.

"Well we thought it would be good for you to get out. And you may not think it is a special day but me and jenny do so you are coming. No excuses. I am also wanting to meet you for lunch down at the usual place. But I have to get going so I will talk to you later. I love you." He just recently started telling me that and part of my wanted to honestly believe him but the other part told him he was just saying that to get into my pants. So I never said it back which didn't seem to bother him, and that made me think that either he truly loved me and didn't care if I said it back just yet he would give me my time. Or that it didn't bother him because he didn't really mean it when he said it. But I had decided to let my wall down for him and this was my first step. I may not love him but maybe while letting my wall down I could learn to love him. So before I could talk my self out of it. I said those three little words that hold so much meaning.

"I love you."

The other end of the line was silent. I guess he didn't know what to say. I had caught him off guard. But he finally spoke, "Alright I will see you at lunch then." and he hung up. I felt like I was about to cry. I had told him that I loved him too and he didn't say anything about it. It seemed like it made him uncomfortable. But then again what was he suppose to say. I don't know what kind of reaction I was expecting to get but it wasn't that one. I took some slow breaths to calm my self down and looked at the clock it was seven thirty and my classes didn't start till ten. So I decided to get up and go for my morning jog. When I got back I still could not get away from the feeling that something was going to happen today. And how the day started with Brent didn't help at all.

So I jumped in the shower and just stood there with the hot water running down me. Then I finally started to work on getting my self clean. I got out of the shower and dried off. I wrapped my hair up in my towel and started getting dressed. I pulled out an outfit I hadn't wore since the last time I actually went out for fun, which had been a long time. It was dark grey knee length leggings, with a white skirt that was lined with lace, a dark grey low cut shirt, and a smokey pink baggy vest, that was sleeveless and hung down almost to the bottom of the skirt. I pulled out my ballet flats and set them on the bed next to the outfit. I stepped back to look at them. I guess this outfit will be okay for tonight since they never told me exactly what we were going to be doing. I deicided to wear some dark blue jeans that were naturally worn and put on my favorite shirt. It was green and fit just right so that it showed off my curves.

I slipped into some flip flops and went to my vanity to do my makeup and hair. Which didn't take long cause I don't wear a lot of makeup. I like going for the more natural look. I took the towel off my head and blow dried my hair. My hair is naturally straight and has a bit of body to it so I decided to had a few curls to it. When I was done I got out a bag and put my outfit for tonight and my makeup in it so that I could just get ready at Brent's instead of coming all the way home if I did not have the time to make it home and back. I headed down stairs and ate a quick breakfast. When I looked at the clock it said nine fifteen. It takes me about twenty five minutes to get to school but I decided to go ahead and leave. When I stepped outside I saw that it had rained last night and since I live down a dirt road I was glad that I had chosen to get the ford escape instead of the little sports car Brent had wanted me to get. As I put my stuff in my car I could feel eyes on me again. I tried to shake off the feeling but it didn't work. So I got in my car and pulled out of my drive way to head down the road blaring Breaking Benjamin. Hoping that it would help me forget how I had felt the past couple days and the dream from last night.

But After I had pulled out and went to put my car in drive is when I saw him. In my review mirror I saw my old step brother standing just a few feet behind my car. I felt the chill go down my spine and into the pit of my stomach and I shuddered. I closed my eyes and shook my head. And when I opened them and looked back in the review mirror he was gone. "There is no way he could be here. There is no way he would even know how to find me." I tried to convince myself. Next thing I know I am screaming and glass is flying as my passenger side window shatters. I hit the gas and peeled off. I looked back in the mirror but there was no one there. I had no idea how my window shattered, and not knowing scarred me. I decided that I was not going to come home tonight. It is not like I cant handle my own. I have been in jiu jitsu and taekwondo classes since I was little, though I had never been put in the situation to have to use those skills to protect myself. But some thing was telling me not to go home tonight.

I got my cell phone out and called Brent. When he answered I heard a girl in the back ground. I immediately thought the worst but calmed my self down remembering that I was going to try and let him in. "Hey what are you doing?"

"Oh jenny and I are planning out what we are all going to do tonight."

"Ok um. I just wanted to make sure we were still on for lunch this afternoon." I couldn't tell him the real reason why I had called him. He would think I was crazy. Oh I was just calling to let you know that I am seeing things that are not there and glass is shattering around me for no apparent reason. Yeah that would be crazy.

"Of course babe. I will see you at noon."

"Um alright."

"Hey are you sure you are alright? Nothings wrong?" he could tell even though I tried to hide it.

"No I am fine. I will see you later." and I hung up before he could say anything else. I didn't want to here him say that he loved me over the phone and I didn't want to make the mistake of saying it to him again. Especially if he was going to make me feel like I did earlier. I wanted to wait till we were together so that I could see the reaction on his face. Then I should be able to tell if he truly does love me.

I made it up to the college with fifteen minutes to spare. I decided to go ahead and go into class. As I was walking I noticed people staring at me so I made a side trip to the bathroom to look in the mirror. That is when I saw it. The moon scar on my cheek had turned even whiter so it stood out more. As I reached up to touch it I heard some one laughing but it seemed so far off. Then I heard one word, "Mynx" and everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

_I got my first review. thanks kari03! Glad you like it. So here is chapter 3. Enjoy!_

Chapter 3

"Mynx"

There were a thousand voices in my head and all they said over and over again was mynx. What the hell is Mynx? And if these voices don't shut up I am going to go insane. There was a bright light shining over my eyes. Oh god! am I dead? I slowly opened them to see that I was in the nurse's office. I looked over to see the nurse. She was a short and skinny lady with gray streaks starting to show in her brown hair, and a big pair of red rim glasses sat on her pointy nose. What was her name?

"Honey can you tell me your name?"

"Everly Rose."

"Good. Do you know what day it is?"

"Yeah. It is April seventeenth. My twenty second birthday."

"Yes dear. My name is Nurse McFoy. Happy birthday."

That's right. Now I remember meeting her on my first day here. "Um what happened?"

"You passed out in the bathroom. I teacher walked in and found you and brought you to me. Can you try standing for me?"

I slowly stood up scared that my legs would give out on me. But everything seemed fine. After a bit of persuasion I got Nurse McFoy to believe that all was fine now and that I was ok to go back to class. It was already eleven thirty and I needed to get back to my classes. I was ahead on my school work, so today was my last day for the semester. I had two tests and an essay due today. I thanked her and walked out the door. Anytime I passed someone they would stare at me. I hate when people stare at me. It reminds me of my step brother. So I hurried to class, but walking through the door didn't help. As soon as I walked in everyone turned to look at me. I slowly walked to my seat trying to look as normal as possible, for a girl who had passed out in the bathroom. During class I could hear people talking about me.

So far today has gone just as I thought it would. Bad. I was so busy feeling bad for myself I didn't realize that class had just ended and it was time for lunch till my phone went off.

"Hey Brent. I am on my way."

"Alright just wanted to make sure nothing had come up. I will see you there."

I got up and grabbed my stuff and headed outside. Our usual place for lunch was a small restaurant in the campus courtyard. I could see Brent waiting at our usual table that sat outside by the trees. Jenny was with him. There was no mistaking that cause of how her white blonde hair stood out in the sun like a spotlight. Jenny was the closest thing to a friend I had but I didn't want her here. I was hoping to have lunch with Brent alone. I walked up to the table and sat down next to Brent. He gave me a kiss and took my hand in his. I could tell by the look on Jenny's face that she was uncomfortable. But who could blame her she was like a third wheel when she was around us.

"Hey Ev! Happy birthday! How has it been so far?"

"Hey Jen. Not so good."

"Oh sorry to hear that babe." Brent said as he squeezed my hand.

Maybe he really does love me and I freaked out earlier for nothing. I gave him a smile to show him that I appreciated it. "Um Brent I was actually thinking about staying at your house tonight. If that is okay with you?"

"Yeah no problem. Since we are on the subject here is a key to my place. I figured it was about time to give you one."

I saw Jenny tense up. "I have to go. I forgot something that I had to do." She got up from the table gave me a forced smile and looked at Brent who looked like he was giving her a silent warning. Then she walked off mumbling under her breath.

"What was that about?"

"I have no idea. I was about to ask you the same thing." But I could tell he was hiding something.

We sat there in silence as we finished our lunch. When it was time for me to go Brent pulled me into his arms and held me. "I am sorry your birthday hasn't been good so far, but I promise to make up for it tonight." I rested my head on his shoulder. Yet it just didn't feel right. He was being so sweet and caring. He was a handsome man tall, slight build, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Any girl would have loved to be with him. I pulled away from him so that I could look at his face and make sure I could get a good read of his expression. Then I said it, "I love you." He smiled at me and he seemed happy that I had said it but that smile didn't keep me from noticing the way his eyes shifted down for just a split second. "I love you too and I am so glad to hear you say that." He gave me another kiss, "I will see you tonight babe. I will be at your house by eight." and he walked away.

I told my self that I was just being paranoid. That it was my old self coming through that was making me see all of Brent's actions as a means to push him away. But I was turning over a new leaf. A new me.

The rest of the day went by pretty quick. I finished all my classes, still having to listing to people talk about me, and it was four o'clock. I needed to get away with some time to myself after classes so I went to the library and sat in the back. I pulled out my I pod and selected to play some In This Moment songs. I sat there for a while until it hit me. Mynx. I need to find out what it is. So I started to search the library. I expected it to be some type if animal or something so I was surprised when I found a book about them in the science fiction/fantasy area around the same place as books on vampires and werewolves. I sat down at a table and started flipping through pages.

_Mynx are supernatural creatures. They are similar to vampires and werewolves by having the shared ability to heal fast and super strength. Mynx have cat like abilities. They are agile and quick. It is said that they were hunted down to extinction a hundred years ago by vampires. Who craved their light sweet blood, that was said to make vampires who drank it more powerful._

Wait so if these creatures have been extinct for a hundred years, and I have never known anything about them. Then why has that word caused me so much trouble in the last twenty four hours. I looked up from the book and noticed the sun was starting to go down. Oh no what time is it. My phone said six thirty. I need to head over to Brent's so that I can get ready. I put the book back and headed for my car.

The Library was next to a park and as I headed to my car I noticed something happening in the park. I walked over to get a better look. As I got closer my body started tingling. There was a man surrounded by four of the largest wolves I had ever seen. The next thing I know they are attacking him. I started to scream when one of the wolves turned to look at me. I hadn't even realized that I was still walking towards them and I was really close. But when the wolf looked at me and snarled I got this horrible pain in my head. I dropped to my knees holding my head in my hands.

The wolf must have saw me as vulnerable cause he started running towards me. I looked up at him and he stopped dead in his tracks. I could feel the heat from my scar and with out even thinking about it I got in a crouched position and hissed at him. Daring him to try it. What was happening to me? I was still me but I wasn't in full control of my body. Every part of me seemed to be acting on instinct. Who's instinct? I didn't know cause my instinct would have been to run.

Next thing I know he lunged at me, and just as quick I lunged at him. I put my hands on top of his head and used his body for the momentum I needed to do a flip off of his back and land on the ground where he had been earlier. When I turned to look at him I could just see the rage coming off of him. He howled out and lunged at me again but this time instead of lunging at him as well I just side stepped from him and struck his side. He went flying into a tree with a loud crack. I wasn't sure whether it came from him or the tree. He called out and started whimpering trying limp away.

Whether it was the loud crack or him calling out I am not sure, but it alerted the other wolves. All three turned to him, and when there eyes fell on me I let out a low deep growl and crouched down as if getting ready to pounce. I could see the look of confusion and fear for the other wolf in their eyes. We stood there in a stand off for awhile until they started walking away slowly then turned and ran back through the trees. I looked over to see that the other wolf was lying there motionless. I had killed him. I killed him? What was this thing controlling me.

I heard a noise and looked over to see the man on the ground trying to get up. I ran over to him and I could feel the tingling in my body intensify. But when I looked down at the mans face I froze. His shaggy brown hair to his ears and his blue eyes with the red ring. What ever it was that I had turned into was gone cause I had full control of myself now, but the tingling hadn't stopped. I kneeled down next to him. "Drayton."


	4. Chapter 4

_Alright two chapters in one night! I think I am doing pretty good so far. I am still not sure about some of the exact details about the future of this story though. So hopefully I will get it worked out by the time that gets here and if not I might be asking for some ideas from my readers out there. So Enjoy! And Review! _

Chapter 4

His head shot up to look at me, "How do you know my name?" he was trying to get up but he was to weak. I didn't bother answering him. It is not like he would have believed me anyway. Oh I just saw you in my dreams last night. Sounds like a horrible pick up line.

"It doesn't matter right now. Are you alright? Any serious wounds?" I grabbed his arm to examine a nasty gash. His skin was slightly cold to the touch. I looked up to his face and that is when I noticed the fangs. The tingling shock went back through my body. I should have been terrified but I wasn't. There was something about him that made me want to trust him. I felt calmer around him.

"What are you doing?" He was looking at my wrist in shock. With out even realizing it I had taken my pocket knife out and I was holding it to my wrist. I took a deep breath, "I know what you are and your are weak. Which means that you need blood. Now I just saved your life once and if you die it will have been for nothing. So I want you to take some of my blood. But you owe me for earlier so you better not kill me. I swear that if you do I will find a way to come back and haunt you. You got me?"

He just stared at me with his mouth open. So before he could tell me no I cut my wrist and put it to his mouth. His instincts must have got the best of him, or he just gave in, cause he started sucking on my wrist. I was immediately hit with a wave of pleasure mixed with a bit of pain. I let out a moan and he stopped. I looked down at him and he was staring at me like he had never seen a human before. "What are y-" but he was silenced by his phone going off. He flipped it open. "Yes." I took this as my opportunity to leave so I turned to walk off but he grabbed my wrist. It felt like electricity was running through my body and when I looked up at him I could tell by the expression on his face that he felt it too.

He hung up his phone without answering the person on the other end and let go of my wrist to just stare at me. I looked over to take a glance at the wolf that I had killed. I had never killed anything in my life other than the occasional bug. I was horrified at myself for killing this wolf even though he had attacked me first. But when I looked over there he was gone. I felt relief wash over me.

"I need to go." I turned to walk off but stopped and turned back to him, "Um… I am glad that I was able to help you, and you don't owe me anything. Not killing me when I gave you blood was pay back enough." He just stared at me there was no expression on his face what so ever. Then he pulled his eyebrows together in a scowl and then he was gone. I could here him running through the trees and a part of me wanted to go after him. But instead I turned to head to Brent's apartment which wasn't far from here.

Oh I never told Brent that I was going to come over and get ready at his place. I don't even know if he is going to be there. Well I guess it is a good thing he gave me a key.

I was walked up the steps to Brent's door. There were some lights on inside so at least he was home. I knocked but no one answered so I let myself in with the key. He wasn't in the living room so I figured I would try his room. When I got there I could here low moans. I didn't want to know what was going on in there. I was in shock. I had allowed him in and he was cheating on me. But I had to see for myself. I had to know what was really going on so that he couldn't tell me some other story. The door wasn't closed all the way so I put my hand on it to push it open.

"Oh Jenny"

I stopped not only was he cheating on me but with Jenny. I felt off balance and ended up putting more weight on the door causing it to swing open with a creak. Brent looked up at me. "Everly it isn't what you think!"

I was so pissed and so hurt I did all I could do and busted into tears and started yelling at him, "Not what it looks like! Really Brent that is all you can come up with? How can it not be what it looks like! You are in bed with Jenny and yall are both naked and moaning each others names! You are a lying piece of shit! And you, Jenny, are a slutty bitch and I hope you both rot in hell!" I turned and ran for the front door. I could here someone run up behind me. I turned around to see Jenny.

"Don't call me a slutty bitch. It isn't my fault your boyfriend came to me cause you wouldn't put out!" and she shoved me. I could feel the rage coming off of me. She went to take a swing at me, but I dodged it. Then I landed two punches right in her face. I heard her nose crack and knew that I had broke it. She fell and hit the floor only to have Brent take her place. He held me up against the wall.

"You prudent bitch!"

I kicked him between the legs and as he doubled over grabbing him self I called his name, "Brent." He looked up at me and I struck down as hard as I could. He hit the floor and blood started coming out of his mouth.

"Don't ever touch me again, and stay the hell away from me!" with that I ran out the door.

I couldn't stop the tears they just kept coming. I didn't head for my car instead I just ran, and didn't stop. I don't know how long I ran till I stopped to catch my breath and looked around me. I was in a clearing that sat in front of a mansion. The mansion looked like who ever built it was trying to make it seem like a castle. It was made of stone and had high arched stain glass windows that sat on both sides of the huge wooden double front doors.

I couldn't move anymore. The pain was too much. I fell to the ground and started bawling. I had never really loved Brent and never cared that much about Jenny so they were only part of the hurt. The main reason for my hurt was myself. I knew better than to let my wall down, but I went against my better judgment and did it anyways. I vowed to myself right then that I would never allow that to happen again. It only ends in pain. I would rather live to be the crazy single old lady with all the cats then to go through that pain again.

My sobs slowly subsided. I just didn't have the energy for it. Then I heard something that chilled me so bad I started shaking.

Howling.

They were coming back for me. I had no idea what to do so I got up and tried to run for the mansion. I saw lights on and knew someone had to be there. I got with in twenty feet of the door when I was knocked down on to my stomach. I let out a hiss and knew that it had taken over again. I jumped up to look at two of the wolves from earlier and a man. He was tall and tan and extremely built. He made me think of one of those muscle heads. He was smiling at me. I felt disgusted by it and growled low at him.

"Oh you are going to pay for what you did to my brother back there, and I promise you it will not be quick. We are going to have some fun with this." He walked towards me and everything told me to run but it wouldn't let me.

As he got closer I noticed that his eye color was the same as the wolves' eyes. Werewolf. My day just keeps getting better. He got with in a few feet of me and stopped. "You know I am not a big fan of cats."

Cats? What does that have to do with anything? He was making no sense to me. At that moment one of the wolves snapped towards me. I crouched low and swatted my hand out clawing him right across the snout and knocking his head to the side. The man came up to me and grabbed my arm roughly pulling me to him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. We all have a problem controlling our temper." I didn't like him that close so I took my other hand and slapped him, and that is when I realized that I had control again. That I had wanted to slap him and I did.

I looked at the man to see him snarling at me. Then he started to transform. I started backing up trying to think of a way out. There was no way I could take all three of them on as myself. This was the one time that I actually wanted that other side of me to come back and take control again.

I screamed as he lunged at me. But he never got to me. Something had collided with him and sent him flying to the side. I felt the electricity through my body and knew without even having to see his face that it was Drayton. What was he doing here? But before I could think on it the wolf that had snapped at me earlier came flying at me. I felt like I was thrown to the back of my mind as the heat rose on my cheek and it took over again. I lunged to the side to dodge the oncoming wolf, which only seemed to make him angrier. He turned to face me but I was already moving. I ran up to him and jumped on his back. I grabbed his jaw and his ear as he was trying to bite me. And with one quick twist he dropped.

Drayton had already wounded one of the two wolves and seeing their comrade killed was enough for them. They turned and ran off. I turned to Drayton and again he gave me that look. "What are you?" seeing his face and hearing his voice brought me back into control.

I never got the chance to answer him. I was so light headed and dizzy. This day had been to much for me. All the trauma from this morning to seeing Brent and Jenny. Then not to mention the blood loss from Drayton and the wolf. The wolf? And that is when I realized it and looked at my hand. When I had grabbed the wolf's jaw while he was trying to bite me he had succeeded. My hand was all tore up with large gashes. But right before my eyes the wounds started closing up. Oh this is just too much. I turned my head up to Drayton and saw him looking at me like I was a freak. Great the vampire thinks I am a freak. "Drayton, I-" and I started to fall. Drayton caught me and the last thing I remember was being carried in his arms into the mansion.


	5. Chapter 5

_Ok so the next couple of chapters may be long in coming cause my cousin came to my house for his summer break and I am helping him write a book that is actually getting published. So his book takes priority, sorry. But here is chapter 5 which is in Drayton's POV and starts back when he first sees Everly. I also would like to now if yall want me to keep up with the longer chapters or make them shorter. And I am also going to try and get some pictures I found put on here. They are the closest thing I could find to what I think Everly and Drayton look like. Enjoy!_

_Chapter 5_

_Drayton POV_

I should have known better than to come out here, but I did it anyways. I had to get out of that damn house. So I came to my favorite place, the library. As soon as I entered I noticed something different. There was still the normal smell of humans, but there was something else there. A soft, sweet smell to the air that sent my nerves on edge. I had to find out where it was coming from.

As I got closer the back of the library the scent grew stronger, but there was no one there. I finally stepped past the last book shelf and I saw her. The scent coming off of her hit me like a brick wall. She still had the slight smell of human but there was also the smell of mynx. I had to do everything in my power not to attack her for her blood.

It isn't possible. She can't be a mynx they have been extinct for more than a hundred years. I had to find out. Though I knew I was tempting my will power to much, I went and sat down at the table next to where she sat listening to her I pod. Her long dark blonde hair falling over her face. Her light green eyes stared off at nothing. She was so beautiful and oblivious to all around her. It would be so easy to kill her… No.

I got up and walked away before I did something stupid. I went outside to the park to find any animal I could feed from. A few rabbits and a squirrel later I had sated my hunger that had hit me full force when I saw her. I sat down on a bench to watch the sun set as I tried to sort out my confusion. "Mynx? There is no way."

By the time I sensed the wolves it was too late. I was surrounded. I got off the table readying my self to fight them. That is when I head her scream. I looked over at her to see one of the wolves head her way as she dropped to her knees her head in her hands. Something urged me to go to her, but I couldn't. The other three wolves took my distraction as an opportunity and attacked. I dodged as best as I could, but I didn't get away unscathed.

I tried fighting the three of them as best as I could but my mind was always turned to her. Why was I worried about her? I should be concentrating on my own safety not wanting to run and protect her no matter what the costs. Why has this girl got me so messed up? I have never even talked to her before. I know nothing about her except that she is definitely not completely human, and that she is one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever seen. Then I felt the burst of pain in my arm.

Damn! I need to be concerned with my own safety, not hers. But I couldn't keep myself from trying to listen for her if she needed help….did she just hiss? And then I was knocked down. They had me pinned and were just starting to tear into me. I knew that this was the end and for some reason all I could think of was her. Then they stopped after only a three attacks. I knew what had stopped them. I heard the low growl and the sickening crack as a wolf cried out. The three remaining wolves turned to her.

Everything in my body wanted to go to her. She may have managed to take down one werewolf, but there is no way she can take all three of these. I turned my head and saw that the wolves were in a stand off with her. I could sense the anger and fear coming from them. I looked to her and what I saw made me catch my breath. She was crouched down growling at them. Her long dark blonde hair had a luminescent shimmer to it, and her eyes had changed. Her usual normal green eyes where like cats eyes. Her pupils were largely dilated and the whites of her eyes had turned black. The crescent moon on her cheek was glowing.

There is no way it is possible. I wouldn't allow myself to believe it. There is no way she is a mynx. I can smell the human in her and mynx have been extinct for over a hundred years it just isn't possible. My train of thought was broken as I saw the wolves run away. I realized that the breath I had held in I had never let out even though it didn't really matter. I tried to sit up but she was instantly upon me. "Drayton?"

My head shot up as I looked at her, "How do you know my name?" I waited for her answer but it never came from her mouth. Instead she said that it didn't matter and then something else but I wasn't paying attention. I tried to go into her mind to get my answer but something was blocking me. As I brought my attention back to her I saw that she had pulled out a knife and was holding it up to her wrist. "What are you doing?" what is she doing? I knew that I probably had to have the stupidest look of shock on my face, but I didn't care.

"I know what you are and your are weak. Which means that you need blood. Now I just saved your life once and if you die it will have been for nothing. So I want you to take some of my blood. But you owe me for earlier so you better not kill me. I swear that if you do I will find a way to come back and haunt you. You got me?"

She knows what I am? But how? And that is when I noticed my fangs were out. I didn't know what to say. What could I say? "No don't," I couldn't say that I was weak and needed blood and I wanted her blood so bad I couldn't stand it. But what was more of a shock to me was that she didn't run away screaming. She acted like vampires were no big deal. She is so different….and my thoughts trailed back off to how bad I wanted her for myself, yet I also wanted to keep her away. I hadn't even realized that I had my mouth open until she shoved her bloody wrist to it. Instinct took over. As her blood flowed down my throat I felt like I was in a different place. I could actually feel the heat rising in my cold body and it was very pleasurable.

Then I heard her moan. It was too much for me. This whole situation was too much. I stopped and just looked at her. I had never tasted mynx blood before, but her blood was definitely not just human. I had to find out. Surely she would know what she is. "What are y-" but I was interrupted when my phone started going off. It was Leila, "Yes."

"Drayton where are you?" I could tell she was mad by the tone of her voice, but I never answered her. I saw the girl try to leave, but I couldn't let her. I had to know more about her and why she had this pull on me. I tried reminding myself that I don't like humans, but it didn't work. I grabbed her wrist and immediately felt the electricity. I let her wrist go and all I could do was stare at her.

"I need to go." She turned to walk off but stopped and turned back to me, "Um… I am glad that I was able to help you, and you don't owe me anything. Not killing me when I gave you blood was pay back enough." I felt the urge to tell her that was not enough for what she did for me, but I stopped myself. What the hell is wrong with me? Damn human. I had to leave. I had to get away now and never see her again. I took off running.

I ran for awhile just trying to blow off some steam. I was so mad at myself for having such thoughts for a human. No good comes from such things. After some time I made my way back to the house. As I got closer I could hear some one running and electricity shot through my body. I hid back in the tree line as she ran by. What is she doing here? Damn I thought I was through with this. Next thing I know she fell to the ground and started to cry. My immediate urge was to go to her. I could feel the electricity in me slightly change with her emotion. I wont go to her. She is nothing to me.

Before I had even noticed it I had taken a step towards her. I probably would have been by her side had I not been stopped by the smell of werewolves. A howl pierced the air. She had calmed down somewhat but now she was shaking. She got up and took off running to the mansion.

I knew what they had come back for. They were here for her. They wanted revenge for the shame she had put on their pack brother. I may not care for humans but I hate werewolves. She made it about twenty feet from the door when she was taken down. I was about to run to her when I saw that she had changed again.

I decided to go ahead and hang back. I saw that there were only two turned werewolves. The other had stayed in his human form and he was walking towards her.

"Oh you are going to pay for what you did to my brother back there, and I promise you it will not be quick. We are going to have some fun with this." He told her with a cocky smile on his face. He got just a few feet from her. Which must have been to close for her cause she growled at him.

I didn't get to hear what he said as my phone started to vibrate. I looked down to see that it was Leila again, and I ignored it. When I looked back up I saw one of the wolves snapped towards her. She crouched low and clawed him right across the snout and knocking his head to the side. The man went up to her and grabbed her arm roughly pulling her to him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. We all have a problem controlling our temper." I almost wanted to laugh as she took her other hand and slapped him.

I looked at the man as he started to transform. I looked back to her only to realize that she was back to her human self. This was not good, and she knew it. I could feel the electric current in my body shift with her fear as she started backing up to the door. I knew he was getting ready for an attack. So I took off towards them as he lunged at her. He was almost at his mark as I collided with him sending us both flying to the side. I hit the ground in a roll and stood back up.

Almost immediately two wolves were on me. All I could do was hope that she could handle the other wolf on her own. I had to end this quick. The wolf in front of me lunged. I didn't even try to dodge. Instead I kicked my leg straight out hitting him full force in the face. I knew I had wounded him and was getting ready to take on the other wolf when I heard a sickening crack. The other wolves heard it too. We turned to see her on top of the other wolf his head twisted to the side. His eyes lifeless. That is all it took for the other two to run.

I can not believe she just snapped a werewolves neck. I knew that with my tone of voice it was going to come out like I thought she was some kind of freak but I couldn't stop the words from coming out, "What are you?" I never got my answer as I saw the blood dripping from her gashed hand. She noticed it about the same time and as she held it up to her face the wounds were already closing. I saw her sway to the side as she spoke, "Drayton I-" But she never got to finish as her legs gave out on her.

I almost didn't catch her in time. I should just leave her here, but my body wouldn't allow me to let her go. I had to find out about this mysterious creature. So I did the one thing my body wanted and my mind was against. I carried her inside the house. I went upstairs and laid her down in one of the extra bedrooms.

"Leila! Kayd!"

In an instant my brother and his fiancé stood before me. Leila was glaring at me. Kayd seemed amused.

"You smell like wolf! What the hell were you thinking? You know we are suppose to leave them alone!" Leila was pissed.

"Hold on a minute love and let my little brother explain," Kayd told her putting his hand on her shoulder trying to calm her down.

"When I was out I was attacked by four werewolves. A girl saved me and wounded one of the wolves. I will explain more on that later. The point I am making now is that she was injured when three of the wolves came back for her and she ended up fainting. I owed her for helping me so I brought her here to recover."

The look on Leila's face was priceless. I could tell she had so many questions, "Wait a minute did you just say you brought a human here? You hate humans."

"She isn't just human. There is more to her…..," Leila smiled at me, "No don't get any ideas. I only brought her here cause I owed her for helping me. As soon as she is healed she is gone."

Kayd finally spoke up, "And what if she doesn't want to leave?"

I looked straight at him and with no emotion in my voice at all I told him, "I will make sure she leaves. Alive or dead is up to her." As soon as I said the words the electricity in my body sparked full force and I hit the ground.


	6. Chapter 6

_Ok chapter six finally! Sorry it is taking so long, but I have been working on my cousin's book. Maybe some reviews will motivate me more? Lol_

Everly POV

I awoke to a strange room. I knew that I was in the mansion. I could remember Drayton carrying me through the doors. Pain shot through my head as the events of the day before came rushing back. I could not stop the tears from welling up and spilling over. What did I do to deserve to have my life turned upside down like this? After awhile of quit sobs I decided to get up and look around.

The room I was in had stone walls and floors. The bed was a king size canopy with grey sheets and Blue grey comforter with silver stitching. Along the canopy frame was silver clothe loosely wrapped around it. Against the wall was a vanity and a dresser. This room was obviously meant for a lady. I noticed three doors. Which I assumed lead to the bathroom, closet, and the hallway.

I opened one of the doors trying to find the bathroom but instead it was one of the biggest closets I had ever seen and it was filled with women's clothing. I shut my gaping mouth along with the closet door and tried one of the two remaining doors. Bingo. I had found the door to the bathroom. I was in desperate need of a bath and this bathroom had one of the biggest jacuzzi tubs I had ever seen, and that is saying something.

I stepped through the door and began to close it, but I decided that maybe I should leave my dirty tore up clothes out side of the bathroom so that if anyone came in they would know what I was doing. I started up the bathwater and got undressed throwing all my clothes on the floor in front of the door except for my shirt which I hung on the door knob. I closed the door and headed for the tub. As I stepped in I gasped as the hot water stung my skin and my already sore muscles tensed up. I settled in and started the jets.

I have no clue how long I stayed in the tub and I would have stayed in longer if my stomach had not growled in protest. I had not eaten since lunch yesterday and I had no idea what time it was now. I stepped out of the tub and wrapped the large plush towel around me. I headed out of the room to see that someone had come in and not only picked up the room but they had taken my clothes as well. Great now what was I going to wear.

I looked over to see a note on the vanity. I picked it up and though I was the only one in the room I read it aloud, "I took your old clothes and threw them away. Sorry but there was just no saving them. Though before I threw them out I looked at the sizes and saw that you wear the same size as me so feel free to go through the dresser and closet in your room. All the clothes in there are mine though they have never been worn. I know that you must be hungry so once you are ready to come down just follow the hallway to the staircase and head straight down. We will meet you there."

I sat it back down on the vanity. It was obviously written by a girl and she had said "We" my mind instantly went to Drayton and the last expression I saw on his face. He had looked at me like I was freak. "Great the Vampire thinks I am a freak," I spoke to myself which had been an increasing habit lately. I forced the thoughts from my head and went to the dresser and pulled out some underwear and a bra. I felt weird wearing someone else's under garments but I noticed that they still had the tags on them. Oh that is right she had said they had not been worn. Well that at least made me feel a little better. I quickly put them on and wrapped my hair up in a towel.

I headed over to the closet. I did not allow my self to wonder in to the closet to far. I knew that if I had let my eyes wander I would be in there forever not being able to decide what to wear. So I grabbed the first shirt and pair of pants I saw. The shirt was form fitting and light green and what I had thought were pants were actually brown cargo capris. I could tell they were expensive cause I checked the tag and new the designer. I finished getting dressed and went to the vanity to brush out my hair. I did not even bother with drying my hair or applying make up though if I had wanted to I could have, the woman had set everything out for me.

I had to force myself to open the door and head out into the hallway as the thought struck me. The only person I knew here was Drayton, and I actually did not know anything about him. Obviously it was a woman who had wrote the note so that meant that there was Drayton and a woman here, but was there anyone else. The thought scared me. Obviously Drayton was a vampire so would that not mean any others would be vampires as well? I knew that I should not have even been comfortable with Drayton either but ever time I thought of him I was calm. That made no since to me at all, if anything it should have scared me more.

I headed down the hallway passing about six other doors. Seeing all the other doors only made me worry more about how many others were here, but I forced my self to continue walking. Staying back here and letting my fear get to me was going to do nothing for me. I stepped out of the hallway into a huge open room. There were two staircases that went down to the first floor on either side of the room with a large chandelier hanging between them. I took a closer look at the chandelier and saw that it had a hundred or more tiny fake candles on it but that it was electrically powered to make one think they were real candles. They flickered and it seemed just like real candles with dancing flames. I looked down to the first floor. To see the large double doors Drayton had carried me through last night.

There was my way out. I was not one to be ungrateful when some one saves me and gives me clothes and a room, but then again they were vampires. I quickly headed down the stair case closest to me and when I stepped off on to the bottom floor I looked around and did not see anyone. I did not want to wait cause if the woman had been right then they would meet me here. I started for the front door, but before I could open it someone opened it from the other side and the door knocked my right in the face sending me to the floor.

I looked up and thought it was Drayton but when my vision cleared up more I saw that there were slight differences between this guy and Drayton. He was a little shorter and more built. He also had short brown hair and though they had the same blue eyes with the red ring around the pupil. His eyes did not seem as hard as Drayton's had. There seemed to be a spark of humor in them.

When he saw what he had done he quickly stepped to me and helped stand me up. "I am so sorry about that. Are you ok?"

"Yeah I am fine."

He smiled at me, "You know you are not suppose to stand in front of doors. Especially when they open inwards." He started laughing as I glared at him.

"Kayd! Quit harassing the guest. You are suppose to be nice to guests not beat them with the front door."

The first thought that struck me was that she had said guest and not meal. Then it hit me that a girl had walked in behind him. She was about my height of five eight. I noticed first her dark green eyes with the red ring around the pupil, and how they had that same spark as Kayd. I thought to my self that the red ring must be a vampire trait. She had short red hair cut to her chin line with bangs that stopped just above her eyes. The first thing I thought of when I saw her was how fun and nice she must be. God I have got to stop being so calm around vampires.

"Hey I did not do it on purpose. She was the one standing in front of the door." Kayd told her apparently trying to shift the blame to me. By the expression I saw on her face she was not going to believe any of it and so she just ignored the comment.

"Go get the bags and put the food up please," she looked at me and smiled, "I am Leila and I am so sorry for what Kayd did and if we scared you. Here come into the living room with me." she grabbed my hand before I could protest and led the way.

I expected her hand to be cold but instead it just felt slightly cooler than the normal temperature of a human. I wondered what else was just myth about them. I knew that they could obviously go out in the sun with out dying cause Drayton had been in the sun yesterday and Leila and Kayd had just come in from outside. My thoughts were interrupted as I was led to the couch and sat down next to her.

"So…What is your name? How did you know Drayton's name? Was it true what he said about you giving him your blood willingly? Did you really kill a werewolf? And.."

"Leila good lord slow down. You have way to many questions and you are asking way to many at one time. Do you not think that she might need time to answer and that she might have a question of her own?" It was Kayd who had spoke as he came in and plopped down on the recliner.

She glared at him before turning back to me, "Oh I am sorry. I tend to get carried away some times. Do you want to ask anything?"

"Umm well I guess I can answer your question first seeing as how I am in your house and in your clothes, "I gave her a smile to let her know that all the question were fine and they did not bother me. "My name is Everly. I am not sure if you would believe me or not, you would probably laugh at me if I told you how I knew Drayton's name. Yes it is true that I gave him my blood willingly it seemed he would have died if I had not done it. And what was the other question?"

She smiled at me, "I love your name. Oh yeah it was did you really kill a werewolf? And I promise not to laugh if you tell me how you knew his name, and as for not believing you. Try me, it is hard not to believe some stuff when you are a vampire. A lot of weird stuff happens here." she started laughing.

I could not smile with her. She was right I had killed a werewolf, or well the other part of me had. I felt horrible for killing someone. I don't know how long I stayed silent until Kayd's voice cut in, "Hello earth to Everly. Come back to reality. Ow! Leila what was that for?" I looked up to see that Leila was smiling and Kayd was rubbing his arm. Well I might as well answer her question. "Yes I guess I did kill a werewolf," I could not help but shudder before continuing, "and my given name is not really Everly. It is Beverly but for some reason when I moved to Europe I felt the need to change it. So I dropped the B. And though it sounds like one of the cheesiest pick up lines I have ever heard, I knew Drayton's name because I saw him in a dream two nights ago."

Kayd spoke up, "It could not have been two nights ago Everly. You have been here for three days. We were worried you would never wake up."

"What? three days! But how?" I could not believe it why had I been out so long.

Leila's smile came back to her face, "you must have just been really exhausted, but we did not mind. I like having another girl in the house."

I could not help but smile, "So are you two and Drayton the only ones here?"

Kayd smiled, "Yeah my little brother shares this place with me and Leila just happens to be lucky enough to be my Fiancé." He smiled at her but she just glared at him. I thought they were about to fight till she smiled at him, "If anything dear you are the lucky one." Leila and I both started laughing.

"Oh great now she has back up," Kayd mumbled as he turned away from us. Which only made us laugh harder. I could not believe how comfortable I felt with them. I had not laughed this much in over two years. That thought reminded me about what had happened three days ago and I could feel the tears wanting to come out. Leila had stopped laughing as well. I think she could sense that something was wrong, but before she could say anything Kayd spoke, "Something has been bugging me. What were you doing outside the mansion anyway? Drayton said that you ran here and started crying. Wh-" he was cut off by a look from Leila.

"It is alright," and I went to telling them everything that had happened that day. From seeing stuff to, passing out, to helping Drayton, and then to Brent and Jenny. I could not help but cry. Leila put her hand on my shoulder and tried to console me, "It is alright Everly. I know you must have loved him, but he is not worth your tears."

I looked up at her, "I am not crying for him I did not love him. I am crying because I finally decided to let my wall down and try and let him in thinking I could learn to love him, and then this happens. I am crying because I was stupid and did not pay attention to the signs and did not listen to my self knowing that I should not have let him in."

"Well it is not good to block everyone out. You can never grow and gain from your experiences if you put up walls and keep everything out." Leila smiled at me.

I could tell Kayd was uncomfortable so I stopped crying and decided it was best to change the subject. Kayd obliviously thought the same thing as he jumped right to it, "So what is it like being a Mynx?"

"A what? I have no idea what you are talking about. Why does that word keep coming up?"

Leila looked at me a little shocked, "You don't know that you are part Mynx?"

"What? No! I am human." why where they trying to tell me that I did not know what I was.

"Everly you are only part human. I can tell by your scent that you are part Mynx. I can smell your blood," Kayd told me as he sniffed the air like he was trying to prove it.

Before I could answer I heard someone growl. I looked behind me to see Drayton. He was looking right at me and I started to smile and thank him but the look of hate on his face stopped me.

He turned to Kayd, "She is awake. She leaves now."


	7. Chapter 7

_Ok so here is Chapter 7! It switches back and forth between Everly and Drayton's point of views. I would also like to let yall know that this is a work in progress. So I do not have everything planned out on where I am going with this. So if you think of something you would not mind being put in the story then let me know. I am open to ideas, and even if you do not like it reviews are nice. Let me know what you think whether it is nice or not. Constructive criticism is helpful and makes for a better story in the future. Thanks and Enjoy!_

_Everly POV_

I could not believe it. I could not even speak. If he hated me so much than why did he help me? It made no sense at all. What did I do to him to make him hate me so much? I wanted to say something but what? I did not even get the chance to speak out. Apparently Leila got tired of waiting on me cause she snapped right back and seemed more than happy to do so. I got the feeling that her and Drayton did not get along.

"It is not up to only you," she glared at him, "Kayd and I both have a say in this."

"No I am the one who brought her here. I have the only say here," Drayton looked to his brother to see if he had his side. What ever he saw did not make him happy, "You agree with her don't you?"

Kayd sighed rubbing his hand through his hair, "Look, I really do not want to get into this but if I have to than my opinion is that she at least stay for a couple more days until everything calms down. You do not know what she has been through. And if you do not like her than why did you help her?" He looked to Leila and added, "Plus, you are not the one that has to deal with her. So, Yeah I am on her side." Leila liked his response and smiled at him before turning back to Drayton to quickly glare again just waiting for his argument.

"I should have known, and yes I do have to deal with Leila. I do not care what she has been through, and you know the only reason you want her to stay Leila is to spite me. I only helped her because I owed her for giving me blood. She leaves here now on her own free will or she leaves by force." I could not help but notice the pained expression that crossed his face and how his body tensed up. I looked to Leila and she looked like she was ready to strike him, but Kayd did not seem to care giving me the impression that this probably happened a lot.

I quickly stepped between them. I do not know why I did it, cause as soon as I did it brought Drayton's gaze back to me. It should have scared me but instead I just got really mad. "That makes no sense. I told you before I left the park that you did not owe me anything. That not killing me when I gave you my blood was enough. So why did you help me?" With out even realizing it I had stepped towards him which seemed to shock him a little. He must not be use to people standing up to him.

He quickly regained his composure and was about to answer but I did not allow him to even try. "You know what I don't care anymore. I don't care what you think or how you feel about any of this shit. All I know is that for two years my life has seemed perfect and in one day. The one day that is suppose to be happy for me. On my birthday everything fell apart. I started seeing things, my car window shattered for no apparent reason, my scar started acting up, I passed out, I fought a werewolf, saved a vampire, walked in on my boyfriend and supposed best friend having sex, fought with them, got attacked by a werewolf, and then saved by a vampire. Then I wake up three days later and find myself to trusting and calm in a house of vampires, I am told that I am welcome here, I am told that I am not just human. Mynx! What the hell is a Mynx? That word has done its own fare share of damage. Then I am told that I have to leave by the same vampire that saved me that now hates me for no reason what so ever. If you want me gone than fine I am gone!"

I had not even realized that during my rant that I had walked right up to Drayton and was practically yelling in his face, which had the biggest shocked expression I had ever seen. I had the urge to knock the shit out of him, but figured it would not be a smart move. I turned to Leila, who was staring at me in shock, and Kayd, who smiled as he told me, "I like you." I did not know how to react. I expected them to be mad at me as well. I expected to be dead any second. I shook my head trying to regain my composure and calm down before talking to Leila, "Thank you so much for what you have done for me, but I am not wanted here. Once I get home I will wash your clothes and bring them back to you. I will leave now."

I turned back to Drayton who was still speechless. Apparently he has never had anyone talk to him that way. I gave him one last glare before walking past him and heading to the door. I heard some mumbling and a "whatever" from Drayton. I was reaching for the door handle when Leila appeared before me. Apparently super speed was not a myth. She had a big grin on her face, "You can stay!" I just frowned at her and tried to go around her to get the door, but she would not let me. "Did you not here me? You can stay!"

"I am sorry Leila but…." I just could not finish the sentence. I knew that I would end up staying because I could not go home. Something in me just screamed "do not go home." This something apparently did not know what it was doing because it was saying nothing about staying in a house of vampires. "Fine," I thought she was going to burst from excitement. Her mood sure does switch fast. "Great! Now I know you must be starving so I will take you to the kitchen." I had no choice as my stomach responded for me and she grabbed my hand and led me away.

_Drayton POV_

I could not believe it. Was this girl just stupid or something? She had no fear. I think that and the electricity shooting through me are the only things that kept me from killing her. As she walked past me Leila walked up to me and told me, "She is staying for at least a few days whether you like it or not." I did not care anymore. I just glared at her and said the only thing I could think of, "Whatever."

Leila ran past me to stop her. Her? I could not keep calling her that I needed to at least know her name. I looked to Kayd as he walked up to me. "You know I really like her. She could do you some good. I am so going to enjoy having Everly here and watching you two argue." He had the biggest grin on his face.

"Everly?" so that was her name. I had not meant to say it out loud, but Kayd quickly jumped to the bait.

"Um, yeah her name is Everly. You can not tell me you did not know her name. You went through all this stuff with her and you never even found out her name." He laughed and slapped my shoulder as he walked by me and out of the room.

My mind was swimming in confusion. She really is part Mynx, but how is that possible? How could she not know she was Mynx? How come I have to force myself to hate her? And the biggest question of all. How come anytime I threatened to do harm to her, whether I think it or say it, does that damn electricity shoot through me causing almost the most unbearable pain I have ever felt? None of this made sense to me, and all of it was causing a head ache.

I decided rest would be the best thing for me at the time. Then I would head to the library and try and get some of these questions answered. I headed up stairs and down the hall way to my room. This happened to be only a few doors down from Everly's room. As I reached for my door I could not help but look down towards her room. She was causing too much trouble for me. I may not be able to do harm to her or threaten her but just maybe I could find a way to scare her enough so that she will leave on her own. I did not know how I was going to pull it off, but I would find a way.

I walked into my room and threw myself down on my bed to try and get a little bit of rest.

_Everly POV_

I did not realize how hungry I was. I should have known I was going to scarf down the food seeing as how I had not eaten in three days. Leila just sat there laughing and telling me to slow down so that I could at least taste the food, and that my food was not going to suddenly run away from me. I would just roll my eyes and keep eating.

After a while I sat back in my chair and rested my hand on my stomach. I had eaten too much and was feeling miserable. Leila did not help any she just kept smiling and saying, "I told you so." This only earned her glares as I got up off the chair and headed for the stairs. I had to stop as Kayd appeared before me.

"Where do you think you are going?" he had that same big, cheesy grin on his face. How can someone be so happy all the time?

"I am going up to my room to lie down. I over ate and now I feel miserable. Why?"

He started laughing, "You just slept for three days and you are going to go rest some more? Great now we have two lazy people in the house." By now Leila had walked up beside me, and was glaring at him.

"You better be talking about Drayton."

"Well of course! You, my dear are far from lazy. I would not even dream of ever calling you that." He smiled at her and I had to stop myself from laughing as he tried faking a hurt expression when all he got in response was Leila turning around to walk back into the kitchen mumbling about him being a suck up.

He looked back at me with a big grin on his face, "Well back to that question of yours. I was wondering because I figured that if you were going to be staying here a few days then you would need a tour of the place."

I groaned thinking of all the walking. I was far from being a lazy person, but at the moment I was miserable. I smiled at him, "I am sorry. Maybe after I digest some of this food I will feel better. Once that happens I will come find you and then you can show me around. Ok?"

I did not even wait for his response. I walked past him, up the stairs, and started for my door. I got to my door and was reaching for the handle when I heard a door open up behind me. I turned around to see that Drayton had walked out of a room just a few doors down and had turned to look at me. I shot him a go to hell look before quickly going into my room and shutting the door behind me.

I went and laid down on my bed sighing to myself as I tried to push all thoughts of Drayton out of my head. I was not having any success. I was so mad at him, but yet there was something about him I did not yet understand. It was so frustrating! Even after falling into a light uneasy sleep I still could not get him out of my mind. I do not know why I thought that sleep would keep thoughts of him away. After all the first time that I met him was in my dreams.


	8. Chapter 8

_Alright chapter 8 is here! But I must admit that I am starting to have trouble with a bit of writers block. I have certain key points already planned out but I am having trouble trying to figure out how to do the story to get them there. So these next few chapters may be awhile in coming._

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_Everly POV_

I woke up with a start. I was breathing heavy and knew that I had a blush rising to my cheeks. I quickly ran to the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. What was happening with me. I was suppose to hate him not have hot dreams about him. Good lord I need help!

I walked over to my cell phone to check the time and saw that I had about a million missed calls and text messages from Brent. He wants to meet and talk about what happened. I threw my phone down with out even checking the time. I was too mad and had forgotten why I had picked up the phone in the first place.

"He wants to meet. Well then lets meet and I am going to make him regret what he did to me. Time to get dressed up," I almost started laughing until I whacked my self in the forehead and shook my head at my still increasing habit of talking and now laughing to myself. Yeah I definitely need help.

I walked over to the closet and started going through everything. I thought about maybe just grabbing the first shirt and skirt I saw like I had done before, but decided against it when I pulled out what looked like the mini me version of a mini skirt and a tiny little tube top. "I do not think so. I want to look sexy not slutty and trashy."

"Who are you talking to?" Leila's voice rang out behind me and I about hit the ceiling I jumped so high.

"I know it is sad. I was talking to myself." I smiled at her as her eyebrows raised at the two tiny pieces of clothing in my hands.

"Where are you going that you would need to wear that?"

"I am not going to wear it. I am just looking for something that is sexy with out being slutty. I am going to meet with Brent," I was going to explain why but I did not get the chance.

"What! Are you insane? After what he did you are just going to go back to him!" Kayd and Drayton both came running into the room.

"What is going on in here?" Kayd asked a worried look on his face, but Drayton just stood there staring at me and the skirt and top in my hands.

"She is going to go back to Brent!" Leila yelled at him. Kayd looked at me like I was crazy and was about voice his opinion but I cut him off before he got the chance. "Would yall please just let me explain. I am not going back to him. He wants to meet and I am going to agree to it so that I can go there dressed up sexy and make him regret what he did to me."

"Oh! Good idea! I love it and will help you get ready. You can tell him to meet you out side of a nice restaurant so that way you can get all dressed up and then Drayton can show up like he is your date that is why you said to meet there!"

Drayton and I both looked at her and as if on cue said at the same time, "What?" Kayd busted out laughing.

"Both of you need to get to know each other better anyways so that you both can start getting along better. Especially seeing as how Everly is going to be staying for a while," she turned to Drayton and continued, "Besides after what she has been through with all the weird stuff and werewolves she needs some one with her. Kayd and I have plans tonight so Drayton it is up to you."

"What ever I know I wont be able to get out of it anyways. I will meet you down stairs at six," and Drayton turned and walked out the door.

Apparently all three of us had expected a fight of some kind cause we all just stood there and stared in shock at the door Drayton had just walked out of. Leila finally spoke up clearing her throat, "Well then Kayd get out. I need to get her ready and you cannot be in here. So get." He smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek. He whispered something in her ear that I could not quite make out what he said but I swear it was something about now having to make up some plans for them. Then he walked out the door.

"Ok text Brent and tell him to meet you out side of the restaurant at six thirty. It is not far from here so that should be plenty of time." She headed in to the back of the closet. I did not grab my phone instead I just stared after her still in a bit of shock, "I have the perfect dress for you it is sexy and elegant but you are going to a fancy restaurant so it will be ok." She came back out of the back of the closet carrying a black dress. She laid it out on the bed so that I could get a better look at it.

It was a sleek black dress that was floor length with a long split up the side. I noticed that the top had a strap for one sleeve but was sleeveless on the other side. I looked up at her, "This is perfect. I have seen this dress before but I can not place it. Who is the designer?"

She smiled at me, "I knew you appreciated good fashion. The designer is Valentino. You probably recognized it if you watched the Golden Globes. This is the same style dress that Jennifer Aniston wore. I watched the Golden Globes and as soon as I saw the dress I knew I just had to have it. I think it will look good on you. So go put it on and I will text Brent from your phone to tell him were the restaurant is. Then when you are done getting ready I will do your make up and your hair. Hurry up we do not have much time." She picked up the dress, handed it to me, and pushed me towards the bathroom.

I quickly put on the dress and instantly fell in love with it. This was going to be perfect. I had only taken two steps out of the bathroom when I was being pulled over to the vanity. To say Leila is amazing at fashion, hair, and make up is an understatement. She had my hair and make up done in twenty minutes. The whole time she would not let me look in the mirror, she just kept telling me that it was going to be a surprise.

"Alright there we go. Now you do not have a full length mirror in here so I want you to go into the closet and pick out a pair of shoes and I will have Kayd bring a mirror in here." She walked to the bedroom door and stuck her head out of it and called for Kayd to go get a mirror. I started to turn and look at myself in the vanity mirror, but I quickly stopped as Leila told me to not even think about it. So I got up and headed for the closet.

Now what shoes to wear? I opted for a pair of black, open-toed, heels. I had always been graceful so high heels were never a problem. I quickly put them on and headed out of the closet. As I stepped out into the room Leila smiled and then slapped Kayd's arm to get him to close his mouth. I could not help but blush as I turned to the mirror they had leaning against the wall. I could not believe that was me in the mirror. Leila had done perfect on the makeup. It was soft and natural yet really showed off my eyes. My hair, again thanks to Leila, was thrown up in a messy half up/half down style with loose soft curls in it. I hated to sound conceited but I looked good.

Apparently Leila liked the look of shock and awe on my face, "I knew you would like it, and Brent is going to regret everything. Why I would not even be surprised if he begged you take him back. Which you better not." She fixed a glare on me.

I started laughing, "You have nothing to worry about I just want a bit of revenge on him and that is it. I will not go back to him. Leila thank you so much. You are like a master at this stuff!" She just smiled at me and then looked at the clock. I followed her gaze and saw that is was six o'clock. "Well time to go down stairs and meet hateful," I stated as I headed for the door. Kayd and Leila both started laughing as they followed me out the door.

I walked down the hall and when I reached the top of the stairs I looked down and saw him standing by the door. Handsome would have been a huge understatement. As soon as I looked at him and he looked up at me my heart fluttered. I mentally slapped myself. He hates me and I am suppose to hate him. I refuse to let my girly emotions get the best of me. I am bringing my wall back up and no one is going to get back in, least of all the dreamy vampire standing at the bottom of the stairs.

I started down the stairs and refused to look at him. So instead I concentrated on the steps before me. As soon as I stepped down on to the floor I did not stop I headed straight for the door. I tensed up as he flew past to open up the door. I glared at him as he motioned for me to go outside, and had to suppress the urge slap him when I heard him let out a low laugh.

The ride to the restaurant was very quite and awkward. I could not help but thank god that the restaurant really was not that far from the mansion. He pulled over and let me out a bit away from the restaurant so that Brent would not see him yet. I turned back to ask him when he was going to show up as my "date" but he was already driving away. "Ass. He probably was not even planning on coming back." I glared at the car that was headed down the road before turning and walking towards the restaurant.

As I walked up I saw that Brent was already there. I had to force a smile on my face as he came up to me. As soon as I saw his face I did not have to force a smile any more, instead I had to stop myself from laughing at the big bruise on his face from where I had hit him. "Everly, you look amazing," he told me with a cocky smile on his face. That bastard actually thought he had already won me back. Well hate to burst his ego bubbly but he was not getting me back. He had already lost and there was never a second chance. "Would you like to go inside or maybe sit out here?" He asked and the whole time the smile had not left his face.

I noticed that he was not even looking at my face but instead his eyes were lingering down my body and stopped at my leg that was exposed by the thigh high split in the dress. I had to push away the urge to beat him right there. "No I prefer to stand out here. Where is Jenny? I figured she would be glued to your hip if she found out you were coming to meet me."

"I ended everything with Jenny so that I could get you back. I miss you Everly. I really do," I could tell by the look on his face he was lying, and as if to prove it Jenny came walking up behind him. "You lost your chance Brent, and I will not take anymore of your lies. Good bye Brent." I turned to walk away but the words from Jenny's mouth stopped me.

"What a useless bitch. I was at least hoping for her to cry. She must still be in an emotional state at losing you to me. Especially knowing she will never be able to be like me or find a man like you ever again. She is going to have to settle for someone more on her level. Ugly, low lives." She smiled at me. I brought my hand back to knock the shit out of her, but something stopped me.

_Drayton POV_

As soon as I dropped her off I had to pull away and get some fresh air. Her scent mixed with how sexy she looked was just too much and it was making me really thirsty. I had to get a hold on myself. I was suppose to be finding a way to get her out of my life, not fall for her. I have no idea why I agreed to this. The only reason I can come up with is that I did not want to fight with Leila. I had promised Kayd I would try and get along with her, but I knew that was not the only reason I agreed.

I wanted to drive around for awhile but thought it best to just drive around the block then come back seeing as how she could be in danger if the wolves showed up. Not that they would try anything in public but the Mynx in her might act up or they could get her off some where private.

So I came back around to the restaurant and parked the car. As I walked up to the front of the restaurant I decided to stay back as I saw that she was still talking to Brent. I knew I should not be doing it but I could not help my self I had to listen in.

"I ended everything with Jenny so that I could get you back. I miss you Everly. I really do," I could tell he was lying by looking into his mind, and apparently Everly could tell by the look that came on her face. I did not know why, or better yet I knew I just did not want to admit it, but I instantly got angry. I noticed a girl walk up to him as Everly told him that he would never get her back and turned to walk away. The girl who I assumed must be Jenny smiled as she said the words that I knew would get what she wanted. A reaction out of Everly.

"What a useless bitch. I was at least hoping for her to cry. She must still be in an emotional state at losing you to me. Especially knowing she will never be able to be like me or find a man like you ever again. She is going to have to settle for someone more on her level. Ugly, low lives." I started to slowly walk up behind Everly so that I could quickly intervene. I saw her bring back her hand as she got ready to knock the girl out. Though I would have loved to see it, I grabbed her hand and laced my fingers with hers.

"Everly, my dear you are looking absolutely breathtaking this evening. I am so sorry I was running a bit late for our date this evening. I just hope you can forgive me. I would hate to have already lost my chance with what seems to be the most beautiful woman I have ever seen," I brought her hand up to my mouth and lightly kissed it, "I promise to make up for it."

I had apparently caught her off guard and she seemed mad with me at first for not letting her hit the woman, but as we turned and saw the look of rage on Brent's face and a look of pure envy and shock on Jenny's face. I knew she had forgiven me.

"Oh I am sorry I did not mean to interrupt your conversation. Let me introduce my self. My name is Drayton, and you two are?" I smiled at them which only made them angrier though now they were trying to hide it. Which did not work with me seeing as how I could see into their minds, and by seeing into their minds I do not mean I could read them but that I could see what emotions they were feeling and see them for who they truly were. Jenny thought she was above everyone else and enjoyed others pain, and Brent just liked using women as playthings and then having them beg for him to come back.

They did not get the chance to answer as Everly wrapped her arm around my waist and said, "Oh they do not matter dear, and of course I forgive you. I, like you, would not want to have lost my chance with someone as amazing as your self. Shall we go inside?" I bent down and kissed her cheek before walking in to the restaurant leaving Brent and Jenny standing out side.


	9. Chapter 9

_So here is Chapter 9. I am glad that I am getting a few more reviews. I love hearing that ya'll like the story! So Enjoy and let me know what ya'll think._

_Everly POV_

We walked into the restaurant with our arms around each other. I could feel what seemed like everyone's gaze on the two of us. Though I don't know if it was because of Drayton or the scene outside. We walked up to the hostess who's eyes never left Drayton as we were led to our table. Though I tried to ignore the feeling I wanted to hit her and Drayton for smiling and raising his eyebrows at her. I can not be jealous.

But I got my revenge as our waiter came up to the table. He was a young handsome man. Though he paid what attention was required to Drayton. He only had eyes for me. Which I gladly responded with a seductive smile and glances at Drayton proved I had got my revenge. We did not talk much while we ate so I let my mind wonder back on what had just happened.

I was so mad at him when he stopped me from hitting Jenny, but I am glad he did. It would have only made things worse and I would not have felt as satisfied with the results. At least this way I felt like the better person by not jumping at Jenny's baiting. She had wanted me to try and hit her for some reason, and though I was more than happy to oblige at the moment later on I would have regretted giving in to her.

Then my mind went to how my heart had fluttered when Drayton had kissed my cheek, and I could not help but think of the dream I had earlier. His strong, toned body. The lust in his eyes. I could feel my body getting hot.

"Are you going to answer me?"

I was brought back to reality by Drayton's voice. I quickly cleared my throat as I tried to clear the thoughts from my head, "What?"

"You did not even hear me? I asked why you were blushing all of a sudden," he eyed suspiciously as I tried to come up with something. Of which I could think of nothing good enough so I stammered out the first thing that popped in my head.

"Oh, uh I-It is just so hot in here. Th-that's all. I was not blushing, just getting red from the heat," I wanted to die right then and there. That was the best I could come up with? I am such a terrible liar, and apparently Drayton could tell. Since if my face did not give it away the fact that I had goose bumps did. I was actually cold. Though he could tell I was lying he did not say anything. Thank God! I did not want to explain to him about my dream.

Then it hit me. Was he not the one that wanted me to leave? Why did he agree to this? I thought he hated me. He was suppose to hate me, that way I had a reason to hate him. I had to try and at least figure some thing out about him.

"Why are you being so nice to me? What is it that you want?" I had not meant for it to come out as rude as it did so I tried to save myself a little. After all I wanted to live on the ride home. "Not that I don't appreciate all that you did out there." I gave him a small smile hoping it would take the edge off of my questions. I knew he had noticed my tone but I assume he chose to ignore it.

He simply smiled at me and said, "I promised Kayd I would start trying to get along with Leila. Plus if you are going to be staying for a while then why not get to know you?"

I sensed there was more to it, and why did he want to know more about me? Was it because I am supposedly part Mynx? Well I wont find out unless I ask so why not go for it, "Well what do you want to know?"

I guess he was caught off guard, or maybe he just was not expecting it to be this easy. What ever the reason was he did not say anything. We sat there in silence for a while. We had finished our meal and were just getting in the car when I could not take the silence anymore. So I decided I might try and get some of my questions answered. I had wanted to ask him earlier but I assumed asking questions about vampires was best left as a private conversation.

"So why don't ya tell me a little bit about vampires. Since I am going to be staying with yall and everything." I gave him my best smile hoping that just maybe it might win him over. He just stared at me contemplating on whether or not to tell me anything. Then he spoke up, "Well what do you want to know?"

It took me a second to comprehend that he had agreed to answer my questions, "Um what myths are true? I mean apparently you have no problem being in the sun. You just ate Italian food that had so much garlic in it I can still smell it on you. You obviously can move really fast. So do crosses do anything? Do you really live forever? How do you become a vampire? Oh and-" I was so glad he had agreed to answer my questions I wanted to get them out before he changed his mind.

"Wow, Ok Everly. First off, SLOW DOWN. Now lets start with question number one. Crosses do not do anything to us other than show us your religion, and whether you are Catholic, Baptist, or hell even Scientology we do not care. We are not judgmental creatures when it comes to someone's faith. Question two, we do not live forever. We just age extremely slow. Aging one year to us is about twenty years to a human. Question three, there are two different ways to become a vampire. You can either be born a vampire or you can be changed. There are actually three different types of vampires. There are ones like Kayd and I that are purebloods, meaning we were born vampires by vampire parents and only have vampire blood in our lineage. There are newbloods like Leila, which are creatures of other species or are changed into vampires by being bitten and sharing blood with the vampire. Though there is a catch some one can only become a vampire if they truly want to. They cannot be forced into it. Then there are halfbloods which come around when a vampire has a child with some one of another species. Halfbloods are few in number seeing as how by the time they are conceived both parents are vampires and it is ill-advised to be with some one other than another vampire. It is something the council tries to keep tabs on. Now that was a mouthful. Anything else you would like to know?" he looked at my face as if trying to figure out what I was thinking.

Then that last thought registered and I could not help but ask, "Do vampires have special powers?" He seemed like he was drawing back in to himself by the scowl that came across his face. Great he was not going to answer me. Apparently he changed his mind, "Well I guess I can tell you seeing as how my powers do not seem to work on you."

"What? Why do they not work on me?" I did not understand why have a become so freaking special all of a sudden.

"Well the only thing I can think off is the fact that you are part Mynx, which means you have immunity against our powers." He seemed alright with the answer but I was not. I did not want to be anything special. I did not like standing out and being noticed. I want to be human and human only so that I can go by unnoticed. I forced the rising emotions back down.

"You said that you had powers what are they? Do Kayd and Leila have powers? Are there any specific powers other vampires have that I should be afraid of?" I did not like this.

He started laughing which only earned him a glare, "You ask to many questions at once. How am I suppose to keep up with everything you ask?" I did not answer him I just continued my glare. He sighed once he realized he was not going to get an answer, "Alright. My power is that I can see into minds, not read minds. I can look into a mind and see someone for who they truly are and tell whether or not they are telling the truth. Leila has no power that I know of other than the power to get on my last nerve. Kayd has the ability to calm a vampires mind. Mainly dealing with vampires who are in bloodlust. He can calm them down so that they come back to their senses. Which is something you should watch for. Just because you live with us does not make you safe from us. If me or Leila are in bloodlust then you are not safe. Kayd you will have no problem with because of his power. I have more experience with holding myself back but that does not mean I will always succeed at it. Leila being a newblood has less control. Though she is quite a few years old now she has not had the experience we have had."

I tried not to let my fear show. The only thing I could think of was what I had read in that book about Mynx.

_**It is said that they were hunted down to extinction a hundred years ago by vampires. Who craved their light sweet blood**._

"What signs do I need to look for to know that yall are in bloodlust? What do I do if something were to happen?" I tried to keep my voice calm as I looked up at him. He apparently could see that I was afraid and I swear I almost saw a look of triumph on his face before he quickly masked it. Was he trying to scare me? What would he have to gain by that?

"Well one sign is how your body feels. The Mynx blood in you should alert you to it. Another sign is our eyes. The longer we go with out eating the red ring around our pupil gets larger. When we have gone to long without eating or while we are eating bloodlust takes over and our eyes become completely red except for the pupil. My suggestion to you is not to go to far anywhere by yourself and if you happen upon one of us in bloodlust run and hope the Mynx in you takes control or you will be dead."

I could not help but shudder at those words. I was starting to think that going home was a better choice, but that same thing in me told me not to. I was getting tired of it to. Was it trying to get me killed or something. Home had to be safer then living with three vampires who could go psycho at pretty much anytime. I needed to get some fresh air.

I looked out the window and realized that we were sitting in the drive way of the mansion. I never even realized Drayton had started the car. I thought we were still sitting out in front of the restaurant. I really need to start paying more attention. I did not even say anything to Drayton all I knew was that I needed air. So I stepped out of the vehicle and leaned against it. I felt light headed. I summed it up to be nerves mixed with the few glasses of wine I had with dinner. I was never that good at holding my liquor.

Drayton got out of the car and noticing me leaning against the car he helped me inside and we sat down in the living room. He took the big recliner and I laid out on the couch. I had to think of something to talk about seeing as how I felt like I was about to go to sleep but my nerves were to shot to allow that. I was still not fully recovered from everything that had happened the past couple of days. My mind went back to when we were at the restaurant and he had said he wanted to know more about me. "Drayton?"

"What?"

"You said you wanted to know more about me. So what do you want to know? Ask anything."

"Okay…..you are obviously not from here. Where are you from and why come here?"

I did not want to go in to too much detail on my past, but he had told me so much so I felt like I should do the same. It was either that or the liquor. "Well I am actual from the states. I grew up out in the country in Tennessee. My father got rich by making beauty cream that made you actual look younger. I know it sounds crazy but his actually worked. I never found out how though. My mother and sister died while my mom was giving birth to her. My father remarried then a few year later he was dead. I spent time in court with my step mom who wanted all the money. I eventually got everything settled and wanted a change of pace. I did not like my old life and the good memories were not enough against the bad. So I moved here with my horse bought a small house so as to keep my privacy and to finish college. That is about my life story. Anything else you want to know?" I could not keep some of the bitterness out of my voice. Not because of him but at remembering my past.

He sat there for a moment. I am guessing he was not sure what to say, but he eventually thought of something, "How did you know my name?"

Oh god. He just had to bring that up. Well here goes nothing, "This is going to sound like a cheesy pick up line. I saw you in a dream the night before I found you in the park with the wolves." I sat there silent for a moment waiting for him to start laughing or call me insane but instead he said two words that caught me so off guard I could only stutter, "Describe it."

"Wh-What? Wait y-you…don't think I am crazy?" I knew I sounded stupid

"No though now I believe you have a speech impediment. Describe the dream." I just glared at him as I tried to calm myself from the anger rising in me and the other feeling I felt in my chest when he smiled at me.

"Well I had the same dream more than once but you were never in it until I tried to control the dream. I would start out in a candle lit room that had stone walls and stone floors. It made me think of a castle. There was a huge canopy bed with brown sheets and an earth green comforter that had gold swirl designs stitched into it. The dream usual has me as just a spectator and I end up walking out the door and down the hall to the library, then to a garden maze with a beautiful fountain of a man and woman. But when I tried to control it I stayed in the room and then you walked in. You could not see me, but when I looked at you something in me just clicked and I knew your name. I said it out loud and you heard me but still could not see me. So I left the room before causing anymore problems. Then you said Mynx and the dream moved me somewhere else. I was in a different place down in a dungeon. There was a woman crying I went to her and she looked just like me, but instead of a crescent moon on her cheek she had a star. A man came in and was shocked to see me. The woman started screaming my name telling me to run and then the man came towards me. That is when I woke up."

I made sure to leave out my stupidity of how I had closed the door and spoke again to him. I am sure I seemed insane enough as it was.

After a while he spoke up, "You said that when the dream went normally that you went into a library and then to a garden maze with a fountain?" He seemed a little disturbed by that. Sure he was disturbed by the more normal part of the dream not the psycho stalker part of it where I was watching him. "Yes why?"

"Descibe the fountain to me?"

I just stared at him for a minute before explaining the fountain in every little detail.

"I want to show you something. Follow me." He rose out of the recliner and stood before me waiting for me to stand up, but I did not want to move. He finally reached down and picked me up.

"What do you think you are doing? Put. Me. Down." I tried telling him the last part with as much authority as I could and though he laughed at me he sat me down. He did not say anything just started walking from the room so I followed him. We walked back out into the main room and up the stairs but this time we headed down the hall to the other side of the house. He stopped in front of a large door, and slowly opened it. As we stepped into I could not help but gasp. It was the library from my dreams. I followed him out onto the same large balcony to see the garden maze.

This was too much. What I had been dreaming was real. Then that means the room from the first of the dream must be Drayton's room. I could not help but blush thanks to my dream from earlier and the liquor in my system. I looked at the garden maze and in the center of it I could barely make out the form of the fountain in the dark. Drayton's voice broke my trance, "Is this the place from your dream?"

I quietly answered, "yes." it was so soft that I was not sure even I heard it but I knew he had. I turned and saw him examining my face. "What?"

"Nothing. It is late and I am tired as I am sure you are. Let me walk you to your room." He started walking away and it took everything I had to tear my gaze away from the fountain to follow him. As we walked down the hall to my room neither one of us spoke. We reached my door and when I reached for the handle to go in he grabbed my hand. I could feel the electricity in my body. It was not painful but it was calming. I liked it. Apparently from the look on Drayton's face he was feeling the same thing. We both instinctively leaned in towards each other. I was sure that if we could see anything other then each other, then we would see sparks flying off of us. Just as we both started to lower our eyelids and our lips were about to touch we heard a door open.

We looked down the hall to see Kayd who was staring at us with a big grin on his face. We quickly pulled away from each other, and I could feel the blush of embarrassment rising to my cheeks. I quickly thanked Drayton for the evening and stepped into my room closing the door behind me. I practically ran to the bathroom to throw cold water on my face.

I decided to take a quick shower before jumping in bed. The whole time from when I closed the door to right before my head hit that pillow only two thoughts were going through my head. Drayton, and what the hell had come over me. No one was suppose to get in. As I laid my head down I thought of one last thing. The fountain in the garden.


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 10! Ok I know it is taking me awhile to update but lately I just have not been really motivated to continue this story. I know that at least some people are enjoying this story so I have forced my self to sit down and type up this chapter. Hopefully while I am either typing this chapter or after I get it posted and see the response to it I will find some inspiration. Though I have not been really motivated I promise not to stop this story for those few people who have told me they love the story. So this one is for my six special readers that have either reviewed my story or added me to their alerts! Enjoy!_

_Drayton POV_

I had almost kissed her. I had wanted to kiss her. I could not believe it. I needed something to take my mind off of all this. I turned away from her door to see Kayd still standing in the hall way smiling at me. I walked back down to my door way hoping he would not say anything but knowing Kayd he could just not give me that.

"Things seem to be going good for you," Kayd could not stop from smiling and it made me want to hit him. I did not give him the pleasure of an answer. I just merely growled my response and headed into my room. It took all I had not to go back out into the hall way and punch him when I heard him laughing on the other side of the door.

I went and laid out on my bed and thought of what she had told me. She had a dream of this mansion, me, and what appeared to be another Mynx. If me and the mansion were real then does that mean that there is another Mynx out there? It was suppose to be impossible for Everly to even be part Mynx, yet here she was. So maybe there are still Mynx out there.

She had Explained the fountain that lies in the center of the maze perfectly. Down to the last detail with the emotions imposed by it and everything. No one randomly has dreams like that. Especially in that kind of detail. What does this all mean?

I was starting to get a headache again. Which seemed to be happening a lot since Everly came in to my life. I had to get her to go away, away from me. I did not like the effects she was having on me. I thought I had found a way to scare her into leaving when we were in the car. I had told her about bloodlust and it had scared her. A women I thought to have no fear showed it tonight, but it was not enough. It was a quick tremor in her that she seemed to quickly shove away.

I needed something more. I needed her gone as soon as possible. The effect Everly has on me is to similar to the effects Nera had on me. I promised myself after what happened with her that I would never allow myself and another go through that ever again.

_Everly POV_

I woke up to some one jumping on my bed and my covers being pulled off of me. I grabbed at my covers to try and keep them around me and blindly swatted my hand out hoping to hit who ever was trying to wake me up. I did not hit anything but heard a woman laughing and they tried to pull off my covers again. I grabbed on to my covers and rolled over trying to ball myself up in them. I not only succeeded in this but as I rolled I managed to knock the woman off the bed. I heard her hit the floor and curse.

"Everly, you lazy bum! Get up! What use is there of having another girl in the house if I can not talk girly stuff with her. If you do not get up I will throw you in the shower with the cold water on!"

At Leila's threat I instantly sat up in bed. Me and cold water do not mix, especially in the morning. "Ok I am up! Now what is this about girl talk?"

I saw her instantly perk up as she jumped back up on to the bed and crossed her legs in front of her. She had a big smile on her face. I could not help but think to myself of how she was way to happy for morning. I wanted to whack her with a pillow and go back to sleep.

"So what happened with you and Drayton? I want to know everything!"

Oh god what did I get myself into. I was trying not to think about him. She apparently saw that I did not want to talk about it as I groaned and tried to lay back down.

"Oh no you do not."

I was the one that got whacked with a pillow. "Fine woman! Where do you want me to start at?"

"I don't want you to skip any part. I want to know all."

I mentally kicked myself as I told her about the night before. She would make her small comments here and there, mostly when I talked about what happened with Brent and Jenny. She seemed to be enjoying her self until I got to the part where Drayton had told me about the bloodlust.

"I wish I could say he was wrong and you would have nothing to worry about, but he was telling the truth. I want to tell you not to worry I can control my self but I was only changed a couple years ago. You should be alright as long as you do not get near us when we are feeding."

I felt a little better at least I knew when to stay locked up in my room. I continued on with what had happened. I stopped when ever I got to the part where Drayton and I were standing in front of my door. I did not want to tell her unless I had to.

She had this big grin on her face. She already knew. Of course she did I was stupid to think she did not know. After all Kayd saw us he would have told her.

"You already know," it was not a question it was a statement.

"Yes! Kayd told me. He said that he stepped out into the hall and he could feel it in the air. He says that he swears he saw sparks or some kind of light coming off of you two," she seemed way to happy about this.

That is when I realized it, "Oh my gosh Leila! You are trying to play match maker! Well I will tell you right know that the only reason we almost kissed was the alcohol in our system. There is absolutely no connection there. He hates me and that is that."

She was about to reply when my stomach growled. We both started laughing and as if on cue Kayd walked through the door with a tray of food and his same goofy smile.

"Hello ladies! I could hear you two up here and I figured you two might want some breakfast. So here is breakfast in bed," he set the tray down in front of us to show a lot of food. There were scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, and toast. It was making my mouth water and I could not stop myself I instantly dug in. Kayd sat down on the bed and him and Leila both started in on it as well.

We ate everything on the tray. Kayd started laughing at Leila and me as we leaned back on the bed, "Wow you ladies are not worried about your figures." The words were barely out of his mouth before he was whacked with two pillows.

"I am not saying I agree with Kayd, but I usually run every morning and I have not done that since the morning before I ended up here. So I am going to go for a run. Is there any where I can run around here so that I am not running down some random road and run into some werewolves or something else?"

Leila smiled at me, "Yes there is a private road that runs beside the house. I will even join you! I need to work off some of my energy anyways."

We both got up and thanked Kayd for breakfast before kicking him out of the room so that we could change. As we headed down the hall way we ran in to Drayton. It was very uncomfortable with Leila standing there with a big grin on her face.

I was not sure I should say anything or not. I decided it was best not to seeing as how I was trying to push him out side of the wall that was around me. However he did not say anything to me either he just simply glared at Leila and me and continued on his way.

I knew that I was trying to push him away and his reaction to me was my opportunity to reinforce my defenses, but instead it bothered me. What did I do for him to glare at me? It was some thing I did not need to dwell on at the moment. I good run will help me clear my head.

I followed Leila out of the mansion and to the small private road. The view that met me was beautiful. There were trees over shadowing the road with flowers along the side. I felt like I was in a completely different place. "Leila, where does this lead?" We had started jogging and I could not take my eyes off of the view around me.

"All of this land here is part of the mansion's property. This road leads to a pond. We go there a lot to go swimming and stuff."

I did not offer anything to continue the conversation with. I was lost in the landscape around me. It helped me forget everything. We did not speak again until we got back to the mansion. Even then I did not want to break the calm the landscape and run had given me so I simple told Leila thank you and headed to my room.

After a quick shower I found myself wondering around the house. As if on instinct I found myself in front of the doors to the library. I decided to find a book to read and head down to the fountain. I walked through the library trying to pick just one book, but it was so hard to choose just one. There seemed to be thousands of books in here and everyone seemed better than the last.

I finely just randomly selected a book and walked out onto the balcony. I do not know how long I stood there just staring out at the fountain when I realized that I was actually expecting it to be like my dream. I was expecting to look at the fountain and be magically transported there. I shook my head and laughed as I turned around and headed out to find my way to the maze.

It did not take long for me to find myself in the center of the maze staring at the fountain. I had to tear my gaze away or else I was never going to start the book. So I sat down on the soft grass and leaned against fountain. I started reading the book and instantly got lost in its words.

It was about a forbidden romance between an elf maiden and a human noble. I was so caught up in the book, picturing the words in my head to where it seemed almost as if I was watching a movie in my head. I always do this with books. I get so into it I block out everything else and the book almost becomes real to me. Instead of just reading and hearing what is going on I am reading and yet somehow visualize what is happening. It was always my escape from the world.

I do not know at what point I fell asleep for my dream even seemed to continue the book in a way. In it I had become the maiden and through out the dream I could not see who my lover was. I only ever saw his body for his face was always shadowed. I was awoken with eerie feeling of being watched.

I stood up and looked to my side to see non other than a man with long red hair and reddish brown eyes. It was my step brother, Allard. He smiled at me and I could see the fangs in his mouth. There is no way. This is impossible. I felt the electricity shoot through me as he took a step towards me. I instantly took off through the maze trying to get as far away as I could. I could hear him laugh as he came after me.


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter 11! I am sorry it is taking so long! I have not been typing like I use to and I keep getting small writer's block here and there. But I am working through them. Please Review and let me know what yall think!_

_Drayton POV_

I was passed out on the couch when I was woke up by a shock of electricity. Something was wrong. I could feel Everly's emotions and I had gotten somewhat accustomed to what the electricity felt like compared to the emotion she was feeling, but this was different.

I had not felt this before yet I instinctively knew what it was. Pure terror. Everly was terrified of something and that emotion mixed with my rush of adrenaline let me know what ever she was terrified of was chasing her. Part of me thought this is just what I need to get her to leave, but that thought was instantly pushed back from my mind as my body acted on its own and jumped up off the couch and followed the pull of the connection between Everly and me.

I found it pulling me out towards the maze. I stopped in front of it trying to listen for her so that I could know where in the maze she was at. I could here her heavy breathing and could still feel her fear. She was near the entrance of the maze and would more than likely be out of it soon. So there was no point in me going in.

Though I was very confused. Something just did not make since. Why was I still feeling the terror from her? If it was truly some thing that was trying to hurt her why would the Mynx in her not take control? Something was very off.

_Everly POV_

I was running as fast as I could but I could still feel him getting closer. I had never been so afraid in my life. I could feel the tears trailing down my face. How could this happen? How is Allard a vampire? Would I have not figured that out while he lived with me?

Then something clicked for the second time in twenty four hours.

_Mynx were hunted down to extinction a hundred years ago by vampires. Who craved their light sweet blood._

That is why he had watched me all those years. How many times had I woke up to the feeling of him being there? He had been after my blood and how many times did he succeed? That last thought sent chills down my spine and I could here him laugh behind me.

Why is the Mynx not taking over. I need it right now. If it is not going to come out on its own then maybe I can force it. I tried digging deep with in myself to the Mynx. I could feel it there, but I could not bring it out. It was almost like it was denying me. I would try to latch back on to it and pull harder but I would only succeed in sending a jolt of pain through my chest.

Why is this happening? What am I suppose to do if the Mynx will not help me? I had to get to Drayton, Leila, and Kayd. They are the only ones who can help me now. I had to get away from him and from what I could tell I had just about reached the opening of the maze.

As I was about to turn the corner to run out of the maze is when I felt him grab me by the wrist. It felt like fire had shot through my arm. I could not stop myself as I let out a blood curdling scream. I went to jerk my hand away as I looked back at him, but he was just out of reach. There was no way he could have being able to grab my hand.

I ran around the corner and saw Drayton standing there. I ran straight to him as Leila and Kayd came running out of the house asking what was going on. I did not answer them as I turned around and saw Allard casually walk around the corner. He smiled at me and I felt the fire burn up my arm again. I let out a scream and clutched my arm to my chest. I could not stop crying.

Drayton grabbed me, "Everly, what is wrong?"

I looked over in my blurry vision to see Allard standing there smiling. What did Drayton mean "what is wrong" can he not see Allard standing right there. I could not find the ability to speak all I could do was hold my burning arm to my chest and point at him with the other.

They turned their eyes to follow where my finger was pointing. They seemed to looking around and confused and left their gazes on side of the maze where I had come from. It was as if they were waiting for the culprit that had caused my hysteria to walk around the corner. I could not take it anymore so I forced myself to speak through pain.

"He is right there!"

Leila looked at me a concerned look on her face, "Everly there is no one there."

I looked back over towards Allard to see him smile even wider and take a step forward. I tried to back away but Drayton was in the way. Allard reached his hand out to me as if beckoning me to come forward.

"No! Go away! Leave me alone! You cannot be here! Just leave me alone Allard!"

His facial expression changed to one of pure anger but he quickly masked it with a smile as he spoke to me, "It is only a matter of time Beverly, my sweet love." With that he closed his out stretched hand in a fist and it felt as if my head had burst into flames. Both of my hands flew to my head and I fell to my knees. I was sobbing and trying to push the pain away but it only seemed to make it worse.

I looked back up to Allard who laughed as he walked away back into the maze. The pain was unbearable and I started shaking as I tried to hold it in. It felt as if it just kept building and I could not hold it anymore I let out one last scream before falling over.

_Drayton POV_

If she would not have run around the corner right after she had screamed I would have headed in there after her. I was actually starting to move forward towards the maze when she had come out. The look of fear on her face stopped me in my tracks. I felt a pain of guilt for even thinking about her being in fear like this as a good thing.

She ran straight to me and turned around. I saw Leila and Kayd come running out of the house. They must have heard her scream. The look Leila gave me was one of anger. Did she really think I was the cause of Everly's fear? Though it should not have, that thought actually hurt.

I was broke out of my emotional confusion when Everly screamed and clutched her arm to her body. What was happening to her? Did it have something to do with the Mynx in her? The look of pain on her face was too much for me. I grabbed her to try to get her attention and to get her to turn her face away from the maze.

"Everly what is wrong?"

She just looked at me with her tear streaked face like I was crazy before turning her gaze back to the opening of the maze. I had never felt some one else's pain so much in my life. What could be causing her this pain? She did not answer me instead she just pointed her finger out. I followed the trail of her finger to see that she was pointing to opening of the maze.

There was nothing there. Maybe what ever it was that was causing this was still in the maze. I let my gaze linger on the opening expecting for something to walk around the corner. I brought my gaze back to Everly as she screamed that he was right in front of us. Before I got the chance to answer her Leila spoke.

"Everly, there is no one there."

Everly turned back towards the maze and immediately started trying to back away. This only caused her to push into me. What was wrong with her? Is she going crazy? There is nothing there. Then she started yelling at some one.

"No! Go away! Leave me alone! You cannot be here! Just leave me alone Allard!"

I felt like I had just been hit by an invisible force. Did she just say Allard? It cannot be, yet it would make some since. I looked over to see that Kayd had the same shocked look on his face. Could she be yelling at Allard Launceleyn, the pure blood that belonged to one of the houses of council? How could his power work on her?

My attention was brought back to Everly as she clutched her head and fell to her knees. I could tell she was in worse pain then before as she choked on her sobs and started shaking. Then she let out a scream right before she fell over and started shaking so bad she was practically convulsing.

Leila tried to pick her up but could not get a hold on her as she shook. I pushed Leila out of the way and reached down to scoop her up in my arms. As soon as I picked her up she stopped shaking and immediately relaxed in my arms. With out a word to Leila or Kayd I headed into the house. They followed right behind me as I headed down the hall to her room.

When I reached her bed I tried to lay her down but as soon as I let her go she let out another scream and started shaking again. I immediately picked her back up. I apparently was going to have to hold her until she got over this. I looked over to see Kayd and Leila standing in the door way.

"Leila just in case I want you to go back out to the maze and look around. Especially around the fountain. See if you can find anything. Kayd, you need to call dad. See if you can get any information on what Allard has been up to recently and the past couple of years."

They both nodded and turned to walk down the hallway. I followed them out and headed to my room as I reached my door they both had turned back to me with questioning looks on their faces.

"I apparently am the only one that can keep her calm so I am taking her to my room."

With out waiting to see if they were even going to respond I headed into my room and closed the door behind me. I headed straight for my bed and leaned back against the head board with her in my arms. As I gazed down at her face I could not help but bring my hand up to wipe a tear away from her face. My mind wondered back to Allard. He has the power to mess with people's minds. He can cause them to see what ever he wishes for them to see and can make them think they are feeling pain.

I looked down to the arm that she had been clutching to her body to see a blistered whelp coming up around her wrist. I took a closer look at it and saw that it formed the shape of a hand. How is that possible? Allard is only suppose to make you think you are in pain not physically cause it when he is not even really there. How does his power even work on her?

I was brought out of thoughts as there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Leila stepped through the door and as soon as she saw how I was laying and holding Everly a big grin came across her face. I growled at her to get her to snap back to reality.

"Oh sorry. I looked all through the maze and I paid special attention to around the fountain. The only thing I found was this book she must have been reading. There was not anything else not even another scent other then hers."

"Thanks Leila. I expected as much."

She merely nodded and smiled as she glanced down at Everly and left the room. I looked back down as Everly moved in my arms and let out a sigh. I could not help but smile myself as I felt the slight yet familiar tingle run through my body. It was the same almost calming tingle I had felt last night as I stood in front of her door.

Though I tried to deny it I could feel the wall melting away for the woman in my arms. I could not help but think that Everly was not Nera so why should I expect to them to have the same out come. With that thought and the warmth of her body against mine I relaxed and fell into a light sleep.


	12. Chapter 12

_So here is chapter 12! I am having some trouble with writing this story now. I think it is because I am caught up with two stories now. Between this one and helping my cousin with his book I am starting to get things crossed and do not have a lot of time to work on them. I am heading out of state on Thursday for a few days so I am going to try to get at least this chapter and maybe another one put up before I head out. I know that this is a bit short, sorry. But please review and let me know what yall think, good or bad. It helps for a better story. __J_

_Drayton POV_

During my sleep, I had a nightmare about Nera. It was mostly darkness with flashes of the past. I awoke with a start and almost sent Everly and myself off the bed. I had almost forgotten she was still in my arms. I looked down at her to see that she was still sound asleep. I needed to know if Kayd had been able to get a hold of dad, and if he found out any information on Allard.

I was not going to find out anything by laying here. I had to try to see if I would be able to lay her down with out her screaming and shaking. I got up off the bed and laid her down. I slowly removed my hands from her so that if she started to scream I could quickly pick her back up. As I lost all contact with her, she did not scream. She only slightly shook for about a second before sighing and rolling onto her side. Well that is a good sign.

I could not help but smile at how peaceful she looked, but that smile was quickly wiped off my face when my eyes trailed down her arm to stop on the dark bruise that wrapped around her wrist. She now even had a few blisters to add to it. I could feel my anger rising and quickly left the room to go find Kayd. I followed his scent down the hall and to his office.

I did not even bother knocking I just walked in and stood in front of his desk. "So what did you find out? Did dad know anything?"

He looked up at me and I could tell by the look on his face that he had been stressing about it, "Well dad said that Allard went missing for a few years and then showed up two years ago. Since then he has been in and out of his house and rumors are that he has been working on something big. Yet no one knows what it is. With him being part of the second raking pure house his grandfather holds quite a bit of power with the council. I have been trying to figure out how Everly fits into any of this but I just cannot find anything other than the fact that she is Mynx. Maybe-" he stopped and his eyes grew big. He had put something together.

"That is exactly it. Mynx blood makes vampires more powerful. It may even alter their powers. He must have got a hold of Everly's blood. That could be why he was actually able to do physical harm to her along with his mental visions. Depending on how much blood he was able to get from her, that could be what he has being working on. There is no telling what he could do with that Mynx blood. Yet the question remains of how he got her blood in the first place."

As soon as he said that Allard must have drank some of Everly's blood my anger flared. Just the thought of him feeding off her made me want to tear him apart. I could not control my self I let out a low growl, startling Kayd.

"Drayton, Mynx blood can make us more powerful and alter our powers. Didn't Everly give you blood back in the park? Maybe she gave Allard blood as well. You said that she did not seem surprised by the fact that you are a vampire."

"Yeah but I do not feel any different. I used my powers on Brent and Jenny last night and nothing changed about my powers. I still only could tell whether or not they were lying, see what they were feeling, and see what type of people they really were," I sighed and ran my hand through my hair before continuing, "It just does not seem like Everly would have giving him blood. She did not seem to be surprised that I was a vampire but she has also been asking all kinds of questions about us as well. If she had known he was a vampire would she not have already known about everything?"

"Yes, you do have a point there. What about with Everly, does your power seem different with her?" Kayd had always been one to want to know everything and this was no different.

"Well my powers do not work on her. But I can feel her emotions. I am not real sure how to explain it. I get different tingles of electricity depending on what she is feeling. I think it has to do with me drinking her blood, maybe it bonded us in a way." I shrugged my shoulders, "I do not really know."

Kayd's face lit up, "That is it! Your powers do work on Everly just in a different way since you drank from her. I imagine it is a defense for Mynx. That they found a way to become resistant to vampire powers, but whatever vampire drinks from them forms that blood bond. This means that only those vampires' powers will work on them."

I finally caught on to where he was going with this, "That is how Allard's powers worked on her. Since he got blood from her, his powers work on her. Since she is Mynx it altered his powers just for her and that is why he was able to do physical harm."

Kayd seemed a little upset that I had figured it out as well so he quickly continued as soon as I paused, "So your powers did not work on her at first but since you drank from her now they do. Yet they are altered so instead of seeing what she is feeling, you feel what she is feeling through the bond."

"So," we both jumped and turned to see Leila walking through the door. We were so caught up in our discussion that we did not even notice her come in, "if the altered powers only work on Everly, then maybe that is what Allard has been working on. Maybe he is trying to find a way to make it so that his new powers will work on anyone."

How long had she been standing there to know all of that? Were we really so caught up in our conversation that she had gone unnoticed that long? She walked over and sat down in a chair. "So what are we going to do?"

Kayd smiled at her before turning back to me, "We could call dad tell him what we know and see how it goes from there?"

He had not even finished the sentence and I was already shaking my head, "No that won't work. Telling dad will not accomplish anything. The Launceleyn house is one of the five ranking houses of the council. We may be of the sixth ranking house and only one position away from our house being on the council, but in there eyes all they see is that we are not of the council. It will look to them like we are just trying to get the Launceleyn house out of the way so that our house can hold power. Besides the fact that we should probably not tell everyone that there is still a Mynx alive. There is no telling how they would react and what they would-"

I stopped as I felt the familiar tingle of Everly. This time it was not an immediate, urgent shock. It was a slow tingle with certain small fluctuations in it. She was all right but she was scared. I could feel the pull of the connection slackening and as if on cue, Everly walked around the corner to stand in the doorway. I could not help but think of how beautiful she looked even though she was a mess from all that had happened.

I could tell that she was still strained from everything as she swayed and leaned against the doorframe for support. She smiled at me before turning her gaze to Leila and Kayd, "Can some one explain to me why my ex-step-brother is a vampire? And why I am the only one that could see him?"

Kayd jumped up, "Wait a minute. Did you just say that Allard was you step brother?"

"Yeah. His mom, Alhana, was the woman that married my dad two years after my mom died. They were married for three years until my dad died. I have not seen either one since then. Which would be two years ago. Right before I came here."

I looked at Kayd, "Well that explains why he supposedly went missing for a few years." I looked back at Everly who seemed to be waiting impatiently. That is when I remembered that she had asked a second question. Kayd seemed to remember as well since before I could answer he spoke up.

"Oh, it is his power. He can make people see things that are really not there. Like hallucinations, but his power extends to making you think you are feeling pain though you really are not. It does not leave any marks since the pain is just a trick in your mind and is not physically happening to you."

Everly gave him an incredulous look as he raised her arm up to him. Showing us all the nasty bruise and blisters that surrounded her small wrist. Kayd shook his head, "Since he got your blood his powers altered for you and he was able to actually do physical harm to you through it as well." I could not help the dark expression that came over my face at the mention of him having her blood.

Everly must have noticed as well and went to walk towards me but her legs gave out. I caught her before she hit the ground and supported her as I turned back to Kayd, "See if there is any way you can get more information on what Allard has been doing, and who his supposed mother is. Since Mrs. Launceleyn was not missing with him all those years he must have some people working with him. I am going to take Everly to lay back down."

I shot Leila a glare as she smiled at my last remark. I then headed out the door and started down the hall. Everly wanted to walk on her own but she could not fully take on her weight with out her knees buckling. So I just helped support her weight but it was causing us to move to slow. So with out warning I picked her up bridal style and ran to her room.

The whole way she was hitting me trying to get me to put her down, but I refused until I dropped her on her bed. I smiled down at her as she glared at me. My smile dropped as Nera flashed in my mind. I needed to get a way for a minute. As I turned to leave the room I looked back over my shoulder at Everly, "Get some sleep." I was reaching for the door handle when she asked a question that stopped me in my tracks.

"Who is Nera?"

I dropped my head, "Where did you here that name?"

"When you were holding me in your room. I woke up for just a bit and you said her name in your sleep. Who is she?"

I took a deep breath and raised my head back up, "She is no one. It does not matter anymore." I then walked out the door closing it a little to hard behind me.


	13. Chapter 13

_Alright I know I did not get another chapter out before heading out of state. Sorry! But I should not have a whole lot more distractions for awhile so I can get some chapters out more quickly. That is, as long as I can avoid writers block (which is getting harder to do) and try and keep my motivation going (also getting harder to do). Well here is Chapter 13! Hope you enjoy it and please review! I like to know what yall think about it, good or bad._

_Everly POV_

I could not help but jump as he practically slammed the door shut. I laid back on the bed and just gazed at the ceiling as my mind wondered back to what all had happened. Allard had been a vampire. So obviously my step mom would be one too, wouldn't she?

I could feel my anger rise as I thought about all the things she probably did to my dad. I wonder if he had known. Maybe that is what got him killed? I shuttered as I felt the tears roll down my face. I had not cried for him in a long time. I took in a large breath and released it slowly trying to regain my composure. Crying was a weakness and weakness was something I could not afford to show right now.

Allard is after me, apparently for my blood. I was in a house with three vampires. Not that I did not trust them, but I did not want them to think of me as weak. I can handle my own and almost, always had. I was not about to start relying on others.

I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind of everything, but one thought kept nagging at me. Who is Nera? Drayton apparently was not going to tell me anything, but maybe Leila or Kayd would know something. It would probably be best to try and get information from Leila first.

I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. Almost as soon as I stood up my knees buckled. I cursed to myself as I fell back on the bed. "I will get over this. I will not allow this to be another weakness," I spoke this out loud to myself as if actually saying it would help with my conviction. I rose again from the bed but this time I took it slow and leaned on one of the poles that formed the canopy.

I could feel my knees shaking which only made me angrier and fed my determination. I do not know how long I stood there slowly applying my weight to my legs before I felt steady enough to let go of the canopy. I knew what was wrong or at least hoped I was right. I could not stand and support my weight because I just did not have the energy for it. I prayed that is what it was and not that Allard had done something to me.

I took a deep breath and started forward I made it halfway across the room before exhaustion took over and I hit the floor. I landed loudly and cried out as I tried to catch myself awkwardly, but my wrist hit the floor wrong. It took most of the force of the impact at its awkward angle and though it hurt I was much happier it was my wrist and not my face that had hit.

I rolled over and held my wrist as Leila burst through my door. She had a worried expression on her face as she looked around the room for me. When her eyes finally landed on me she glared at me as I smiled at her.

"What in the world do you think you are doing? You are suppose to be resting and getting your energy back. You are too weak right now to even be walking. All you are going to do is manage to hurt yourself more."

At first I accepted the first part of her conversation with humor, but I could feel the anger rise as soon as she said I was weak. I tried to contain it but I failed miserable as my anger exploded at her, "Who are you to tell me what I am suppose to be doing? I know how to take care of myself and I do not need your help or pity. I am not weak!"

I knew I should not have said it and wished to take the words back as soon as they had left. I was not mad at Leila. I was mad at myself and it was wrong of me to take it out on her. I saw the hurt expression on her face as she softly spoke to me and turned to walk out the door, "I was only trying to help. That is what friends are for. They are suppose to worry for you and help you."

"Leila wait, I am sorry. I did not mean to take it out on you. I am just mad at myself. I do not like having to rely on others or having weaknesses."

She turned back towards me and smiled, "Everly, you have to realize that everyone has weaknesses, and until you learn to accept yours you will never learn from them and grow stronger because of them."

Ah the wisdom of Leila. Where does she get it from? I started laughing as I realized I was still lying on the floor. I looked back at Leila to see her staring at me like I had lost it, "Well I am going to accept your wisdom Leila by asking for help to get off this floor. I find the bed to be much more comfortable and am more likely to recover faster if I am lying on it instead."

She started laughing as she walked over and helped me up and over to the bed. After I got laid back on the bed I turned and looked to Leila. Well this would be the best time to ask, "Leila, can I ask you something?"

She sat down on the bed, "Sure. What do you want to know?"

"Who is Nera?"

I could see her tense up before she took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, "Where did you hear her name?"

"When I was laying in Drayton's room. He said her name in his sleep. I tried to ask him about it, but he told me that she was no one and that it did not matter anymore. I would have believed him but after he told me that he slammed the bedroom door closed."

"I do not know if I should tell you. I am trying to stay on good terms with him for Kayd."

"I understand. I will just have to try and get it out of him myself. I do not want to cause any more trouble between yall."

She leaned forward and hugged me, "I am sorry I would tell you, I swear. Thank you for understanding. Now I am going to check in on the guys. You get some sleep."

I laid my head back and closed my eyes as I heard the door close. It was not long before I fell asleep.

_I was walking down a long hallway. The floor was of stone and the walls had many pictures of various people hung on them. I could feel the pull of the dream making me walk forward. Something told me to try and turn away, but my curiosity got the best of me. I walked and walked but never seemed to arrive at a destination. I heard a sinister laugh and immediately bolted. I ran down the endless hallway trying various doors along the way but they were all locked. I continued running but the hall just kept going there was no end to it. I heard the laugh again and I knew that it was closer. I turned around to try and see who it was and I caught my breath. It was the man from my dream with Drayton. The one that had been in the dungeon with the other Mynx. I could not tell what he looked like even with him that close to me. The only feature I could make out was his eyes, the large red ring around his pupil with four lines coming out to form a cross hair and the red was starting to consume his eyes. He was practically upon me and I tried backing away but after only a few steps my back hit the wall. I had finally come to the end of the hallway, and had no where else to go. He smiled at me before speaking, "I will not allow you to ruin what we have achieved." He dove for me and the last think I remember is his red eyes that were completely taken over by bloodlust before it all turned to darkness._

When I woke up I just laid there and stared at the ceiling. I could tell that my bedroom window had been open as the cool air caressed my skin. If it was not for the fact that I had broke out in a cold sweat during my sleep I would have enjoyed the breeze, but instead it was making me cold. I shivered and rolled over on my side to curl up into a ball, pulling the covers around me. I stared at the dark night sky as I had rolled to face my window. I wonder who came in here and opened the window.

I heard my door open but did not turn to see who it was. I did not want to see anyone at the moment. I was still shook up about the dream and at the moment was trying to will myself to get out of bed. I need to see if I could fully walk on my own now, and I did not want anyone in there to see me fall if I could not support my weight. I felt the mattress slowly give in as the person sat on the bed. I sighed and turned over expecting Leila or maybe even Drayton.

"Kayd? What are you doing in here?"

"I just came in to check on you. Leila told me about earlier. I figured that when you decide to get up and walk some one should be in here just in case you fall and can not get off the floor again." He started laughing, "When ever Leila told me that I pictured you as being in those commercials about the old people that lay down on the ground and then with really bad acting say 'Help I have fallen and can not get up.' Do you think you need one of those necklaces with a button to call us?"

I glared at him and whacked with a pillow, but could not help but laugh with him. There was something about him that you just could not stay mad at him. I sat up in the bed, "Well I was actually going to try and get up now."

"Well then I have perfect timing. Now I can watch you and laugh when you fall on your face."

I went to whack him with another pillow but he moved out of the way. "Stupid vampire speed," I mumbled as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. I did not even hesitate. I immediately stood up and had to sit back down as I got light headed.

"Still can't walk?"

"I felt pretty good taking on my weight. I think I just stood up to fast because I got really light headed. I think I am ok though. So let's give this another try." I stood up slower and just stood there for awhile making sure my knees would not start getting shaky again. After I felt sure enough I walked forward. I walked all the way across the room and back around to the bed. I smiled at Kayd, "Ta Da!"

"Dang it I was wanting to see you fall," He smiled at me. I could not help but notice how much he and Drayton looked alike when they smiled. Well I had tried it with Leila maybe I could try it with Kayd.

"Hey Kayd, can you tell me who Nera is?" The smile dropped from his face almost instantly.

"I was wondering when you were going to ask that. Leila told me about you asking her earlier."

"You are not going to tell me either, huh?"

"Well I think it would be better for Drayton to tell you, but I know he probably never will. So I will tell you."

I could not believe that he was actually going to tell me, "You are not worried about what will happen between you two when he finds out you told me?"

He smiled, "I can handle my little brother," he sat down on the bed before continuing, "Nera was Drayton's Lover. Though it was just a ploy to her, he truly thought he loved her."

"Was she a vampire?"

"No she was a human, though she wanted to be a vampire. You see in the vampire world our politics are made up of a council of five. Every vampire family is consisted of one house and their house holds a rank. The top five houses eldest members hold the council. Our family is ranked six so we are just outside of the council. The house below us wanted our position since doing anything to remove one the council houses would only move us forward and they would still be left behind. So they preyed upon Nera's desire to become a vampire and told her that if she worked her way into our house and helped bring down our downfall they would turn her."

"That is terrible."

"Yes, well it gets worse. She worked her way in by becoming Drayton's lover. His power did not work on her, because the other family gave her a special trinket that blocked them. He could not see her for what she was. After a year of being together Drayton professed his love to her. It is on that day that she tried to kill him. He fought back and in the process she had started bleeding. With Drayton's emotional state he fell into bloodlust and killed her. It was gruesome what he did to her, blood was every where. Since then he has hated humans and built a wall up around himself."

"Oh my god. I am not sure what to say. Poor Drayton, it was not his fault."

"Really? You are not afraid of him now or hate him for what he did?"

I looked at Kayd like he was crazy. Did he seriously believe it was Drayton's fault? "No of course not! He could not tell she was lying and see her as she truly was. And as for the bloodlust that could not be helped. He could not have prevented it."

Kayd smiled at me as he got off the bed and headed for the door, "You are truly unique Everly."

After he left the room I went and took a shower hoping the hot water would help clear my mind and relax my muscles after everything that I had found out and been through. I wrapped myself in a towel and went to walk out the bathroom. When I turned around after closing the door I found Drayton sitting on my bed. Before I could ask him to leave so that I could get dressed he spoke.

"You do not think I am a monster?"

"Kayd told you or did you just hear?"

He glared at me, "You did not answer the question. Do you think I am a monster?"

I glared right back at him, "Of course not! I told your brother the same thing, and you did not answer my question."

"I listened in and felt your emotions. You were scared when he told you what I did to Nera."

I put my hands on my hips and continued my glare, "You should not listen in on other people's private conversations. And of course I was a little scared. It reminded me of what could happen living with vampires."

He got up off the bed slowly then practically appeared before me. I tried to jump back but my back was against the door. His hands flew past either side of my head as they slammed into the door behind me and I could hear the wood crack.

"You are scared right now. I can feel it though it is not very strong. You think I am monster so you are afraid."

I regained my composure and glared at him as I poked him in the chest, "Of course I am a little afraid right now. I would be dumb if I was not. You are stronger and faster than me. If you wanted to you could kill me at anytime but that does not make you a monster! You would be a monster if you went around gleefully murdering and feeding off of little children. That is a monster! You are not that, you are not a monster!"

I had more to add but I could not continue as his lips collided with mine. I had not even realized our faces were that close. I could feel the electricity between us as it practically exploded. The kiss was rough and he moved his hands to the back of my head and entangled his fingers in my wet hair. It almost seemed he was trying to hold me there. As if he was afraid I would turn away. Instead I brought my arms around his back and held him to me. I do not know how long we kissed but to me it did not seem long enough before he pulled away.

"I am sorry," he whispered and then he was gone with only the sound of a door closing as evidence of where he had gone. He left me leaning against the door trying to settle my heart rate.


	14. Chapter 14

_All right Chapter 14! I am so sorry for taking so long to update, but I have been having some huge writers block. I hope that I am getting over it and it will not be a problem anymore. Now I would like to take a little bit to thank all my reviewers. _

_**XXDaniStarXx - I am so glad to here that you like my story! In addition, thank you for wishing me luck with my cousins book!**_

_**Rocktheroxie - Thanks and I am going to try!**_

_**Hazeleyes14 - lol I am glad you thinks so! I am going to try but as I said, I have been having some major writers block and just have not really been motivated for some reason.**_

_**Fortune-Teller513, macer0307, pheobep3, raised with fangs, and kari03 all of yalls reviews were on earlier chapters and I never got around to replying so for that I am sorry, but thank you for the support and I am glad yall like the story.**_

_From now on, I am going to try to reply to every review whether it is through the next chapter or through PMs. So now that is taken care of, on with the story!_

_Everly POV_

I slid down the wall and put my hand over my heart. I could feel it beating rapidly. I cannot believe he just kissed me. I mean yeah we almost kissed before but that was because of the alcohol. At least that is what I have been telling my self. Well what do I do now?

I decided to go talk to Drayton and was about to open up my bedroom door when I realized I was still in a towel. I quickly was dressed and walked out into the hall. I walked down to Drayton's door and was getting ready to knock when his door opened up. Drayton stood there staring at me. I did not know what to do or say, all I could do was stand there.

"Can I help you with something or are you just going to stand there all day?"

I shook my head, "Oh right, umm. Well I figured we should talk about what just happened. Talk about whether or not it was a mistake or accident or something else."

I was hoping he would say it was something else. For some reason I wanted him to tell me that he liked me and wanted to be with me. Even though my wall was supposed to be there, I wanted him to break it down. I wanted him to hold me in his arms and kiss me again. I was not suppose to feel this way and though I tried to push the feelings away, standing there in front of his door I felt like a giddy little school girl on the inside. I prayed that he would not be able to feel it.

"There is nothing to talk about."

My mouth dropped. How was there not something to talk about? He just kissed me when I thought he hated me. That is a lot to talk about. I felt like I had been stabbed in the heart about a dozen times. I felt my heart harden up as I came to the conclusion that I was not going to let him see me weak because of him.

I glared at him, "Well if that is how you feel then fine. There is nothing to talk about." I turned around to walk off but he grabbed my wrist.

"Everly, please wait."

I felt a spark in my heart as he grabbed me and asked me to wait. I wanted to turn back to him and hope that he would say something right, but not matter how my heart wanted it my brain would not allow it. I did not even turn to look back at him. He was not holding my wrist tight so I jerked my hand away and told him, "No, it is just like you said "there is nothing to talk about." So I believe you. The kiss was nothing and obviously meant nothing to you. So why talk about your mistakes." I started walking down the hall.

"Everly, it is not…."

I did not even stop this time. I just continued down the hall to the library.

_Drayton POV_

I had to get out there. I was disgusted with myself at remembering what I had done to Nera. I am a monster. But after hearing Everly's opinion and her telling me more than once that I was not a monster. The emotions were just too much. I acted on impulse and did not think it through. I went with my heart for once in a very long time instead of using my head. I kissed her.

It was amazing. Feeling that kinetic pull between us. The calm that came over me. It was almost like an addiction being sated. I could feel myself being pulled into it. Into my feeling for her. I did not want to lose this feeling so I brought my hands up and entangled them into her hair keeping her to me.

I do not know what I would do if she pulled away from me. I just knew that at that moment I needed her lips on mine and I did not want to lose it. To my surprise she did not try to fight me off or try to turn away. Instead she brought her arms up and held me to her. It felt like our bodies melted together. I do not know how long we kissed, but I knew it had to end.

My mind was catching up to my impulses and I knew I should not have done this. I pulled away from her and leaned over to whisper in her ear, "I am sorry." I did not want to see her reaction. Whether it was relief, hurt, or anger. I did not want to wait and find out. I used my speed and got out of the room as fast as possible.

When I got to my door I looked over and saw Leila staring at me. She looked like she was going to ask me something and I was not in the mood for it. I simply ignored her and went into my room. Locking the door behind me, I went and laid on the bed. I brought my hands up and ran them through my hair. I habit I have when I am trying to sort through my thoughts.

Why did I kiss her? Well that is a stupid question to ask myself. I know why I did it. I did it because she is working her way through my wall and towards my heart. No matter how hard I try to keep her out she is making it through. Something I heard Leila say a long time ago popped in my head, "Sometimes we put up walls, not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to knock them down."

I have my own walls up but so does Everly. How was I affecting the wall she had built? This thought was going round and round in my head coming up with all kinds of answers, when a knock on my door brought me out of my thoughts and back to the world before me. I was not going to answer it seeing as how I thought it was Leila but the tingle through my body told me different.

It was Everly on the other side of that door and she seemed to be nervous about something. I immediately got up and went to the door. It was time to see how she felt about all of this. I opened up the door and waited for her to say something. Yet she just stood there. I was losing my confidence in this situation very fast. So I decided to start the conversation.

"Can I help you with something?" I asked her. Might as well figure out what she is here for, seeing as how it could be for something completely different than what I am hoping.

She shook her head, "Oh right, umm. Well I figured we should talk about what just happened. Talk about whether or not it was a mistake or an accident or something."

I could feel the rise in the electricity going through me. She was getting excited yet still really nervous. Why did she say mistake or accident? Is that what she thought it was? I decided to end her emotional torment and mine.

"There is nothing to talk about." I wanted to say more but I was not sure of how I was suppose to continue it. I did not know what words to say.

Her mouth dropped open in shock. Had I not said the right thing? I mean there really was not anything to talk about dealing with what she asked. We did not need to talk about it being a mistake or accident or any thing else bad, like she had stated. To me it was a good thing and we did not need to talk about the kiss. What we needed to talk about was what was happening between us. That is when it dawned on me how wrong that sentence sounded. Had she taken it the wrong way?

She glared at me, "Well if that is how you feel then fine. There is nothing to talk about." She turned around to walk off. Yeah, she had definitely taken it the wrong way. I grabbed her wrist to get her to stay so that I could explain what I had meant.

"Everly, please wait."

I could feel the electric current in my body fluctuate with her emotions. She did not even turn to look back at me. I was not holding her wrist tight and she jerked her hand away, telling me, "No, it is just like you said "there is nothing to talk about." So I believe you. The kiss was nothing and obviously meant nothing to you. So why talk about your mistakes."

Yeah, this was bad. She had definitely taken it the wrong way. I really need to watch how my words come out. I needed to do something to stop her as she started heading down the hallway, "Everly, it is not…." I did not even try to continue as she did not even stop. She had chosen to ignore me.

I lowered my head and ran my hand through my hair, "Damn, how do I fix this?"

"You are going to need my help."

My head snapped up to see Leila standing across the hall from me. I just stared at her for a moment contemplating my choices. My best option seemed to be getting her help, seeing as how on my own I had practically destroyed everything.

"Alright come on. We can talk in my room."

She smiled at me as she walked past me and into my room. I closed the door and turned to face her. Before she even got a word out of her mouth I spoke, "What do I need to do?"

We spent the next hour figuring out how to fix the mess I had made. We had come up with what we thought would be the best plan, or better yet Leila came up with it. I now walked down the hall towards the library. As I got to the door I stood there trying to gain my confidence. After taking a few deep breaths I put my hand on the doorknob and started to turn it.


	15. Chapter 15

_Alright here is chapter 15! I wanted to have it up a lot sooner but had a family emergency. So before I begin the chapter her are my review responses._

_**.love - I did not want to leave it as a cliff hanger but I got really busy and would not be able to work more on it that day so I decided to go ahead and upload it.**_

_**XXDaniStarXx - thanks! And the reason for the electrical pull is kind of a little of both. It is because she willingly gave him her blood forming the blood bond between them. They are not soul mates but are so compatible and alike that combined with the emotions for each other it adds to the connection from the blood bond. Thus forming the electrical pull. Hope that cleared things up and I did not just confuse you. Lol**_

_**And finally rocktheroxie - lol here is your more more more more!**_

_Everly POV_

I was pacing back and forth in the Library. I had tried to read something but I just could not concentrate on it. Stupid Drayton.

I just could not stay cooped up in the Library. I walked out and back down the hall way. I could not help but notice how my steps faltered and my heart skipped when I passed by his door. I quickly made my way to my room. I leaned my back against the door and tried slowly breathing in and out to calm my nerves.

I walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face. As I was drying off my face I looked up in the mirror. I could see the tears on the brink of spilling over no matter how hard I tried to hold them back. Seeing myself like this I came to a realization. I need to get out of here.

I did not need to stay here anymore and it is time for me to return home. My one source of relaxation is my horse and though I am sure she is being taken care of very well by the stable hands I have not seen her in so long.

I walked back in to the room and grabbed my cell phone and car keys. I silently thanked Kayd again for going and getting my car. It was time to go home. The little voice inside my head kept telling me bad idea, but I have been listening to it for the past couple of days and look where it got me. So I ignored it and pushed it to the back of my mind as I headed back down the hall.

I thought it might be a good idea to tell Leila bye but as I walked by Drayton's room I heard her talking to him. I could not make out her words but it sounded like she was arguing with him. I can talk to her another time. It is not like she does not know where to find me. With that final thought I headed down the stairs and out the door.

_Drayton POV_

As I opened up the library door I brought up the rose I was carrying and held it before me. But as I stepped in I could tell something was off. I was not feeling her presence. So I walked back out and down the hall to her room.

I knocked on her door but got no answer. I decided to go ahead and go in, but she was not there. Just in case I went back down to the library. I checked all through it, but she was not there. As I went to walk out of the library my eye caught the top of the maze from the balcony.

Of course! She would be out there. Why did I not think of that? She would have come in here got a book and headed out there. I sped to the maze and as I walked through it I was still not picking up her scent or feeling her there. My hope started dropping. Where could she have gone?

As I was about to take the final turn into the center of the maze my senses went off, but it was not Everly. Something else was there and it was a vampire. I stepped around the corner expecting to see Kayd or Leila. To my surprise it was neither one instead some one with long red hair stood with their back to me.

"Allard," I growled at him getting ready to lunge.

He turned around to face me with a smirk on his face, "Hello Drayton. How have you been?"

"Stop the pleasantries Allard. Where is Everly? What did you do to her?"

"SHE IS NOT YOURS TO-," he paused and collected himself, "I have not done anything to her, yet. Maybe you should have kept a more keen eye on her."

I stood there just staring at him. I could tell he was not lying, but why in the world did he blow up like that? He wants her. That is exactly what it is. He not only wants her to gain power but because he is obsessed with her.

"If you ever lay a hand on her I will kill you!"

He started laughing, "Hmmm, I thought that was supposed to be my line." He suddenly became serious, "Now if you will excuse me I have a little hurt bird to catch. If you want to make this fun then why don't you go to the stables?" With a final smirk he disappeared.

I heard foot steps behind me. I turned to see Leila standing there. She took one look at my expression, "Oh no, what happened?"

I growled one word at her before running back to the house, "Allard."

"What?" I could hear her following right behind me.

I stormed into the house yelling for Kayd. He came running down the stairs, "What is going on?"

"Allard is what is going on. Now do either of you know where Everly is?"

Kayd spoke up, "I saw her leave earlier. I heard a car start up and when I glanced out side she was heading out of the drive way. What is Allard doing?"

"I went looking for Everly, but could not find her. So I decided to try the maze. When I got to the center Allard was there. He is going after her. He is obsessed with her. He told me that if I wanted to make it fun then to come to the stables. But I do not know what stables and why Everly would be there when she does not own a horse. I do not know if it is a trap or not."

Leila cleared her throat, "Everly owns a horse. She keeps it at a stable near her house."

I wanted to slap myself for not remembering that. She had told me the other night that she had moved here with her horse. I felt like such an idiot.

Kayd brought me out of my mental beating, "Well now that is settled we need to go get her. Where does she live?"

"I do not know." How could I be so incompetent?

I was getting ready for another mental beating when Leila spoke, "I do. She told me about it during one of our girl talks."

"Then why the hell are we standing right here," and with that I stormed out the door.

_Everly POV_

I drove straight to the stable. I got out and headed straight for Lil's stall. She was as beautiful as ever. I quickly went to her and wrapped my arms around her neck. I needed to go for a ride. Riding Lil had always been therapeutic for me.

I looked down and say that I was wearing a skirt and flip flops. I sighed and patted Lil promising her that I would be back as soon as I got changed. She simply nudged my shoulder and snorted. I could not help but smile. I headed out to my car and as I got in I could feel that all to familiar tingle. Something supernatural was near by and the Mynx had sensed it.

I brushed it off and pushed the Mynx to the back of my mind putting up a mental barrier. I did not need it. That part of me had done nothing but cause trouble. I pulled up to my house and quickly got out and ran up to the door. When I went to put the key in the lock the door slowly swung open. I could not help but gasp at the sight before me.

My house had been ransacked. I slowly made my way through the wreckage. The only sounds were my breathing and the sound of the glass crunching under my feet. I walked in to the living room to see my big screen television broken along with my gaming systems. What the hell? Did some one come in here just to break stuff? Nothing is missing, just broken.

"Who would have done this?" I spoke my question out loud and was answered with a growl. I turned around and came face to face with a man. I did not recognize him, but he smelt of dog and my brain immediately registered. He was a werewolf.

He shoved me against the wall and held my wrists against it. He was inches away from my face and just kept looking into my eyes. It was as if he was searching for something. What ever he found or did not find made him mad. He growled and slapped me only to grab my wrist again and look into my eyes.

"Where is the Mynx?" he asked still searching my eyes.

That was a good question. Where was the Mynx and why was that side of me not coming out? It came out the last time I was around werewolves. Then it hit me. Back when I left the stables I felt the Mynx act up. It was trying to warn me that it sensed a werewolf and I blocked it off. I blocked it off! That is why it is not coming out.

"Where is the bitch that threw me into a tree and killed my brother?" That was it. He was the werewolf from that first night. When the Mynx first came out. His brother was the one that the Mynx broke it's neck. No the Mynx was part of me. I broke his brother's neck.

I tried to pull down the mental barrier as he back handed me again. I could not help the tears that burst forth. On impulse I brought my leg up and connected with the spot between his legs. He dropped to the floor with a howl. I did not wait to see what would happen. I already knew that he was changing.

I ran for the door. Just as I got to the door way he collided into me. I went flying out the front door and landed on my stomach. I rolled over to see him standing over me. He had changed back into a man.

"I know that you are her. Come out and play little cat." He snarled as he grabbed me and lifted me up only to punch me in the stomach and throw me back down.

He picked me up again but this time I retaliated. I attacked his face trying to scratch out his eyes. He yelled and threw me.

"You are going to pay for," his sentence ended in a strained growl. He had changed. I knew that I did not stand a chance, but I would rather try then give up. I got up and tried to take off running. I screamed as he hit my back, his claws tearing into my skin. I went flying forward from the momentum. I hit the ground and rolled over ready to have to fight him off.

He was right at my throat I barely moved in time for him to miss my throat and bite into my shoulder. I let out another scream as I started bringing my fist down on his head. He let go and jumped back to prepare to lunge at me again. I knew this was it. I was already exhausted and losing a lot of blood. There was no way I was going to be able to fight him off now. Not even if the Mynx came out.

He snarled and lunged as I closed my eyes, bracing my self for the impact. It never came. I opened my eyes to see Allard standing before me. He had the werewolf by the throat as it thrashed around trying to snap at him. Allard merely laughed as he crushed the werewolf's neck. Then tossed him to the side as he turned to face me.

"Hello Everly, my dear. I have come to take you with me." He flashed a smile, his fangs seeming to glisten in the light, as he held out his hand.

I could not help it, my temper flared and the barrier broke. The Mynx had taken over. Even in my weakened state I crouched down and growled, before I lunged at him. He just stepped to the side.

"Everly, my love, do not make this difficult."

This only made me madder. I walked up to him calmly and as soon as I got close enough for him not to dodge I latched on. I bit and scratched anything I could. He yelled out and knocked me off of him. He ran up to me and grabbed me by the throat.

"I will have you one way or another. You will be mine. I can guarantee you that. I always get what I want. Now you can make this easy and just come with me or I can force you," he glared at me and by the tone of his voice I could tell he was serious. It actually made me think for a second that I should go with him, but I quickly threw that thought out.

"What do you want to do? Either way you will be with me, how much pain you go through is up to you."

I glared down at him as best as I could. I was having trouble breathing and everything was starting to fade out. I did the only thing I could think of, I spit in his face. His response was, "I see you have made your choice." Then he threw me.

My scream was silenced as I collided with the side of my house. My back hit first, but this only caused my head to snap back and collide with a window. I swear I heard something snap on impact, but I did not know if it was me or the house. I slumped down and could see my blood running down my body.

I looked up to see Allard walking towards me. The closer he got the larger the red ring around his pupil got. I was about to be torn to shreds by him in his blood lust. I could not hold my eyes open any more. I hung my head and let the darkness consume me.

_Drayton POV_

We got to the stable, but Everly was not there. I started freaking out and was about ready to kill some one when I stable hand came out. Leila quickly stepped in front of me as Kayd put his hand on my shoulder.

"Do you know where Everly is?"

The young man looked up at Leila and smiled, "You missed her by about ten minutes. She said that she would be right back. She was just going to her house to change into some riding clothes. She should have been back by now."

"Thank you."

I barely heard Leila say it as I was already headed to the car. Leila and Kayd barely got in the car in time before I was speeding off. Kayd put his hand on my shoulder, "Drayton you need to pull over. It will be faster and safer if we just run there. Driving like this could get some one killed, and pulling up in this will only take longer for us to get to Everly."

I glared at him and wanted to protest but knew he was right. I pulled over and quickly got out of the car. As I stepped out I heard her scream. I did not even wait to see if Kayd and Leila had made it out of the car yet, before I took off.

As I ran up to her house I looked over and saw the dead werewolf lying on the ground. When I looked back up I saw Everly, covered in blood and passed out. He pale complexion even paler. She looked on the brink of death. I growled as I saw Allard walking towards her. I lunged forward colliding with him.

He recovered and turned around to face me. He had a smile on his face, but it instantly turned to a frown as I felt Leila and Kayd come up behind me.

"I said for you to come. Now this is just unfair, three on one. I guess this will have to wait for another time," he turned towards Everly, "You will be mine, my love."

I growled and lunged at him but he was gone. I quickly turned and went to Everly. I could barely hear her heart beat. I looked up at Leila as her and Kayd walked over to me. I could not help but notice her eyes getting redder as she got closer.

"Kayd," He turned and looked at me as I nodded towards Leila. He just nodded his head knowing what I meant. And though it seemed he had down nothing, Leila's eyes went back to normal. I turned back to Everly knowing what I had to do. I hesitated and Kayd spoke, "You know what you have to do. If you do not then she will die."

I sighed knowing that he was right. I just hoped that her Mynx half would not reject it and cause it to end up killing her. I reached down and grabbed a shard of glass from the ground. I sucked in my breath as I cut open my wrist. As the blood started trailing down my wrist I tilted her head back and held my wrist to her mouth.

She opened her eyes half way before she slowly started drinking from my wrist. I could not help but shudder at the pleasure that ran through me. As soon as her color returned she pulled away. Her eyes closing as a small smile came across her blood stained lips.


	16. Chapter 16

_Alright Chapter 16! I know I am sorry it is taking me awhile. For some reason I still just don't feel like writing sometimes. So I have to make myself sit here at the computer and type. I feel like my last chapter was the best yet, so let's hope I still got it in me and this one will be just as good ;D Now before I begin, let's acknowledge some reviews!_

_ChaR17 - lol I am not a big fan of Allard either but I have good plans for him so he cannot disappear just yet._

_Hazeleyes14 - No she is not but you will find out what happens just below all this! :)_

_XXDaniStarXx - I know I think Drayton is awesome too! I am glad so many people like him and kind of understand his thought process! So glad you liked the last chapter, I hope you enjoy this one too._

_Fantasy Cat1, dawnvamp, rocktheroxie, and .love I am so glad yall love the story and find it so interesting. So here is yall's update, and I hope yall enjoy it!_

_Now on with the show! :)_

_Everly POV_

I could hear Drayton's confrontation with Allard, but it all sounded so very far away. Dark, relaxing sleep seemed so comforting compared to the pain I had just gone through. I wanted to give myself in to the surrounding darkness, but something just would not allow me to.

I felt someone grab on to the back of my neck and something pressed to my lips. I did not want to be bothered I just wanted to welcome the darkness around me. Yet a small presence in the back of my mind wondered what or who could be holding me and what was on my lips. The curiosity of that presence won out. I slowly opened my eyes, but could not get them to open all the way. My eyes tried to focus, but I was met with a fuzzy image of Drayton holding his wrist to my mouth.

Before I could comprehend what was happening a resounding command shot through my mind. Drink! My body acted of its own will and I started drinking from Drayton's wrist. As soon as I started drinking my vision cleared and I could see the pain and worry in his eyes. After only a few seconds I felt him shudder and it sent a shock through me.

As I pulled away from his wrist I could feel my body working on mending its self and it took the last of my energy. I closed my eyes and let this new more inviting darkness of rest consume me. I could not help the smile on my lips as I held on to the emotions I saw in Drayton's eyes and the realization that he had come for me.

_Drayton POV_

I picked her up in my arms and held her close to my body as I headed back down the road for the car. Kayd and Leila quickly stepped in behind me and we walked back in silence. Of which I was very thankful for. When we got to the car I sat in the back still holding Everly to me. Kayd jumped in the driver seat and Leila in the passenger seat.

They both looked back at Everly and me. Kayd turned back around and quickly started up the car and started down the road. Leila however just kept staring at us. I tore my gaze from Everly's face down to her blood stained clothes. I looked back up to see Leila sniff the air and her eyes go red.

"Kayd!"

The words had barely left my mouth before I was throwing my leg up to block Leila from lunging into the back seat. She knocked into Kayd and caused him to swerve and almost hit head on with a truck. I was struggling with Leila trying to keep her up front as she tore at my leg trying to get past it to the source of the sweat smell coming from Everly's blood soaked clothes and blood matted hair. The next thing I knew there was the sound of tires screeching to a halt and Everly and I were flying forward into the back of the front seat as Leila was thrown back in to the floor board.

When I recovered I quickly put my foot back up ready to ward Leila off, but I was met with the sight of Leila slowly climbing back in to her seat and refusing to look back at us. Kayd had finally got the car under control and had slammed on the breaks to separate Leila from us. As soon as the car had stopped he focused his full attention on Leila to instantly calm her.

Though I wanted to kill her for trying to attack Everly, I knew that I had no reason. It was her nature. It was all of our nature to follow the sweet melody of the blood flowing through our prey's veins. What she did could not be helped, and I knew that she was already beating herself up for it. There was no need for me to make things worse.

We had just pulled up to the house when the first of Everly's tremors started. They were small and subtle at first but they were quickly getting worse. I rushed into the house and up to her room. I had barely made it through her door when her first cries split the air and she started thrashing around.

I quickly laid her down on the bed and surrounded her in a barricade of pillows to try and prevent her from hurting herself. I turned to get Kayd, but he was already in the door way.

"Please tell me her body is not rejecting the blood."

He opened up his mouth to answer but was cut off by Everly's screams. We both looked back at the bed to see her body thrashing around. Her limbs and torso would fly everywhere then hold in there contorted position just for a second before moving again. Kayd and I were both on either side of her in an instant.

"Hold her down, Drayton." Kayd reached for her arm but was having trouble getting a grip.

I quickly laid myself over her torso as Kayd examined her arm. I chanced a look at her arm to see what he was shaking his head at. What I saw almost killed me. Her veins had swelled up and turned black. It looked as if something was crawling through them. I looked up at her face to the see the darkness spreading through all her veins like a spider web across her pale skin. I did not even need Kayd to speak the answer to my earlier question.

Everly's body was attacking itself. Her Mynx blood, though only half, was rejecting the vampire blood and trying to destroy it. My blood. I tried to save her but in the end I was going to be the cause of her death. I was going to be the one that killed her in one of the most painful ways imaginable. It felt as if a knife had gone through my chest as I felt her body struggle against me and her screams pierced the air.

I felt her body relax and looked up to see Kayd removing a needle from her arm. Before I could ask he answered, "It is a sedative. She needed it and hopefully it will help. Whether it will help her live or just ease her passing, I cannot tell you." Then he walked out of the room, probably to find Leila.

I picked myself up off her body and laid down beside her. I ran my hand through her hair as I leaned into her ear and spoke the words that were on my heart and mind, "Please do not fight it. Just accept my blood. I will do anything. Just please don't leave me." They say when talking to someone in this state that they can hear you. I laid back on the bed and just prayed that she could hear me.

I laid there for what seemed like a life time, but in reality was only ten minutes. When she started to convulse again. They were short convulsions which only lasted a few seconds before she would relax, only to convulse again a minute later.

I refused to move my eyes from the pained expression that kept crossing her face as I called for Kayd. He had not even got all the way through the door when I spoke, "She is starting to convulse again and is looking pale. I do not think the sedative is helping to even ease her passing." Just saying the words I felt like I was tearing my heart out. I vowed right then that no matter how long it took I was not going to leave her side till this passed and she no longer felt the pain I brought upon her.

_Everly POV_

As soon as I entered my dreamless state I could feel myself being lifted up and held tight. I sighed and allowed my self to fully relax and let go of it all, knowing that I was in Drayton's arms. It felt like I was floating in the darkness for hours. The only thing I felt was the power in my self mending my body and mind. Then it hit.

The pain was terrible. I would have much rather suffered the blows from the werewolf and Allard over and over again than deal with this. It felt like my blood was burning me alive and busting my veins open only to be accompanied with feeling like my body was breaking and being ripped apart. What was happening to me? All I could feel was this horrid pain, and all I could see was the darkness as it pressed upon me. I felt like I was being suffocated. I could not breathe as the darkness formed a weight on my chest and pinned me down.

Next thing I know I can still feel the pain but it is dulling out and I feel as if I am leaving my body. I could still feel my body fighting with itself and the pain was still horrible, yet it was nothing like before. I was still in the dark, but I could breathe. I could barely make out a voice talking to me. It sounded like Drayton and I tried my hardest to zone in on it and understand what he was saying.

"Plea….ight….accept…ood….do anyth…ont leave me."

I tried harder to concentrate on the words that echoed around me. The harder I tried to clearer they became.

"Please…fight it. Just accept….blood. I will do anything…ont leave me."

"Please do…fight it. Just accept my blood. I will do anything. Ju…ont leave me."

I had to try harder. He was trying to tell me something important, that I knew I needed to hear. Though I felt like I was invisible I pictured myself as leaning forward towards the voice. My head turned to the side so that I could try and capture the words in my ear. I concentrated as hard as I could.

"Please do not fight it. Just accept my blood. I will do anything. Just please don't leave me."

My heart started racing at his last words, but I had to calm myself down and try to do what he said. I mentally reached into my mind for the Mynx. I had to gain control of it if I was going to get it to stop attacking Drayton's blood and allow it to heal me.

I could feel it retaliate against me. My heart would pound hard against my chest and the horrid pain from earlier would return for just a second. I was not about to give up. The Mynx was part of me and I was part of it which means it needed to accept me as much as I needed to accept it. I willed myself through the pain and refused to give up as I kept diving in to my mind to find the Mynx.

No I had to stop thinking of it that way. I did not need to go in to my mind to find the Mynx. The Mynx is me, and I am the Mynx. I needed to go into my mind and find the part of myself that had been missing for to long, and make it an active part of me again. I needed to be whole again. I will not be able to until I accept the Mynx as myself, and quit treating it as an unwanted, individual force in my mind.

I latched onto it again and again, but never achieved anything other then the pain ripping through my body. I was getting tired and loosing my patience, but above all I was beyond mad. With a growl I mentally thrust myself at the Mynx and tried to force it into submission. Yet again forcing it did not work.

I broke down and cried as the pain slowly left my body. I knew it probably would not do any thing, but I started talking to my other half, the Mynx. "I need you to understand me. I need you to accept me. Why can you not accept me as being part of you, when I accepted you as being part of me? Do you not understand that we need each other? We need each other and Drayton's blood to survive and live on. We will both die if you do not stop fighting the blood and allow it to heal us. We will die if you do not accept me."

As the last words left my mouth it felt like a barrier had broken in my mind and I knew I was complete. I could feel Drayton's blood rush through me as my body started to heal, and my mind relaxed. I felt all the pain vanish and my breath even out as I entered the peaceful bliss of sleep.

_Drayton POV_

I had laid beside her for five hours now, and nothing had changed. I looked over towards the door as Kayd and Leila walked in. I could see the pain and hurt in Leila's eyes. I knew what I needed to do. I got off the bed and walked right up to her as Kayd walked over to Everly.

"Leila just stop it!" I could see her flinch at my words. She was expecting for me to yell at her maybe even hit her. It almost seemed like it is what she wanted. She wanted to be punished and feel pain for trying to kill Everly. She needed to have some kind of punishment for trying to kill her best friend. But I would not give it to her. Maybe that was a punishment in itself.

"Do not beat yourself up over this. You only did what was in your nature and you could not help that. You can not stop being what you are, and force yourself to be like another. Do you honestly think that Everly would blame you and hate you for this? If you do then you do not know her very well. She would understand and forgive you in an instant. She would not hold it against you and force you to punish yourself. If anything she would be mad at you for punishing yourself for this. She told me that she knows what we are capable of and that we could kill her any second if we wanted to. Yet she chose to stay here even knowing that. If anything you are hurting yourself and Everly more by not letting this go."

I could see the tears in her eyes as she nodded her head and smiled at me. She was about to say something when Kayd interrupted, "She is accepting it!" I immediately went to Everly's side to see that her breathing had evened out and her veins had returned to normal. If it had not been for the small rise and fall of her chest I would have thought her dead, for the look of peace and calm on her face. I felt relief flood over me as I took her hand and held it up to my face. Now all I had to do was wait for her to wake up, and how ever long that took I was not going to leave her side.


	17. Chapter 17

_Oh my gosh guys! I am so sorry I have not updated in over two weeks. I am just stuck in this huge writer's block and have no idea where to go from here. Well actually I do have some idea of where I want it to end up, just not how to get there. This really sucks! : ( I just have not had the motivation to sit down and try and force myself over this writer's block, and though I still don't really have the motivation I am forcing my self to sit down at this moment at 11 pm and write at least a couple paragraphs before I am allowed to sleep. I just hope that this chapter still turns out good. Any tips or ideas will be greatly appreciated, and I will give credit to you if I use your idea. Thank you for all the reviews! My reviewers are awesome, amazing people! But the numbers do not add up. My story traffic shows over 2000 reads but there are only 26 reviews. I have been reading some other stories where authors set a review goal every chapter and I thought about doing that. But I do not want to go too crazy and just end up disappointed. So on that note I want to have between 30 and 35 reviews after this chapter, please? That means at least four of you need to review. Now let us try and gets this chapter typed up!_

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_Allard POV_

_CRACK!_

The woman that had tried to get as far away from me as possible screamed as the woman I had in my hands fell limp. Her head hanging at an odd angle thanks to her broken neck. I immediately slammed my mouth down on the dead woman's throat. After I had drained her, I looked up at the woman who was now pushing her back into the basement wall so hard I am surprised she is not melding into it. My glowing red eyes locked on hers. My hunger still burned with my anger. I smirked at her as she started shaking.

"Y-You can't d-do this. The master s-said we would be pr-protected if we became blood d-donors."

She started shaking harder and tried to push more into the wall as I started laughing, "I can do what I want. You can always be replaced."

She let out a blood-curdling scream as I lunged at her. I did not killer her before drinking from her. I wanted to feel the life in this one as a drank. I clamped my mouth on her throat and I could immediately feel the adrenaline and fear I her blood. It only gave me more satisfaction and drove me to drink more. I made myself stop right before the last of her blood and life left her. I threw her body over by the other so as the last life left her she was staring into her friends face.

She was right my grandfather was going to be mad that I had killed two blood donors. There are not that many people willing to live as blood slaves to vampires, but we could find more. I wiped my mouth on my sleeve as I turned and walked out the door. My thoughts immediately fell back to Drayton and Everly. Who did he think he was? She is mine not his! True it had all been for her blood at first, but then it became something more. Now she would rather have him over me….. NO, she is mine and only MINE!

I made my way down the halls and let me anger radiate from me. This caused everyone I passed, whether it was a servant or a member of the house to get out of my way as fast as possible, and avoid any contact with me. One poor servant girl had her head down as she was carrying something and bumped right into me. She had barely landed on the floor when I already had her picked back up by the throat. She had the same long blonde hair as Everly, and it made my anger swell even more at the thought of her and how she had denied me. I hissed at the terrified girl before throwing her down the hall to collide with the wall.

Well that is just something more to have grandfather mad about. The girl would be fine, as she was a vampire. The wall on the other hand would need to be fixed. I quickly made my way into my office and closed the door behind me. I leaned against the door and tried to take a deep calming breath, though I did not have to breath it was more of impulse, I figured if it calms down humans then why not vampires. But it was not so and I was immediately off the door and pacing my office.

Every once in a while I would get to close to the wall and could not help but to punch it. This resulted in many holes in the dark wood paneling. Dad was going to be mad seeing as how he had just had the walls fixed from my last outburst. That was when I had projected my self to Everly in the maze, and she had denied me. She DENIED ME! My anger instantly went out of control and I picked up the closest thing to me and threw it. It just so happened to be one of the antique chairs that was my mothers favorite, and the chair just had to go through I family portrait and the wall into the next room.

Great now I would not only have grandfather made at me, but dad and mom as well. In less than thirty minutes I had managed to find away to piss off or scare everyone. I believe that just might be a new record. I forced myself to sit down at the desk and try to collect my thoughts. I was not going to achieve anything until I calmed down to have coherent thoughts.

I immediately thought of Everly and how much fun I would have with her. Once I got her, it would be fun breaking her into submissiveness. She has such spirit and fire in her. Yes, it would definitely be fun. Now the question was how to get her here so that I could begin the fun. For one Drayton would have to be dealt with, but how? I could not just out right kill him. It would cause an up roar in the houses. Now if I could find a way to have him attack me first with out any instigation I could claim that he was trying to kill me in a ploy to get his house on the council.

I leaned back in the chair and turned it around so that the back was facing the desk. In doing this I was now facing the family portrait that had a big hole in the center of it, thus I was looking into the room next to the office. I closed my eyes and immediately shut out the world around me as I fell into my thoughts.

I do not know how long I stayed in that state until my thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. I chose to ignore it and continue with my though process, but with out waiting for acknowledgement the door opened. I turned the chair and snapped at the intruder, "WHAT?"

There stood the blonde servant girl that I had thrown into the wall earlier. I growled low at her thus causing her to drop her head and stare at the ground. She just stood there as if waiting for permission to speak.

"What is it that you want girl? Speak! You cannot be waiting for permission seeing as how you apparently did not need permission to come into my office uninvited."

She shrank back at my words and took a deep breath before speaking, "The Master wishes to see you. He told me to come get you and make sure that you go to him at this very moment."

I spared her no response as I got up and left the room. This is probably about the blood donors. I might as well get it over with now. I headed straight for my grandfathers main office. When I entered the first room, his secretary looked up to me a dazzling smile on her face. She was strikingly beautiful even my vampire standards. Her shoulder length hair hung about her soft black curls that greatly contrasted against her pale skin and unique ice green eyes.

I knew her from somewhere but I just could not place it. I smiled at her as I walked through the door behind her. I was immediately met with the angered faces of my parents. I just simply shrugged my shoulders at them before speaking, "Just spare me the questions and lecture. I already now that I should not have done it. Now where is grandfather? And why does he want to see me?"

My father sat down and continued his glare, while my mother threw her arms up in the air obviously frustrated and turned her back to me. At that moment, my grandfather walked into the room. At least he did not look angry, but he was also quite deceptive at times. He walked to his desk and sat down. He messed with some papers before turning his gaze to me.

"Allard, I am sure you know what this is about."

I smirked at him and crossed my arms across my chest. I was not about to fall for that. I was not going to admit to anything until he told me what he knew. For all I knew it was about something completely different and he had no idea about the blood donors yet. Though unlikely seeing as how my parents obviously knew about the office being tore up. "No I am not grandfather. Why don't you enlighten me?"

My grandfather laughed and leaned back in his chair, "Very smart boy. We already know about the two blood donors, the servant you threw into the wall, and the destruction of the office. I could care less about the blood donors. I was planning to replace them soon any ways; you just saved them from me. The servant is a bit worse. She almost took out the wall. Do not throw the servants again. As for the destruction of the office, I will leave that to your parents seeing as how it was your mother's favorite chair and family portrait. However please refrain from doing that again."

He left of there and just stared at me. My impatience got the best of me, "The why am I here?"

"You are here because the Devereux Family is starting to ask questions about your little disappearance. I know that you have had a run in with there sons Drayton and Kayd Devereux. Our house is already under scrutiny we do not need anything else against us. You need to solve your little problem and you need to solve now. That is it, you may go."

I could not help the smirk on my face as I turned to leave the office. If only they knew what I was trying to achieve. Our house would be the most powerful. We could over throw the first ranked Ziminiar family. If they knew they would probably help me, but I cannot tell them. At least not yet. I do not yet know what they would do to Everly knowing that she is Mynx, and I am not willing to chance it. As long as the Devereux keep quit about her being Mynx then everything should be fine, until my project is complete.

As I came back out into the first room, I ran into the secretary again. I know her from somewhere I just cannot place it. She just stared at me in shock and then smiled as she backed away from me.

"I am sorry Mr. Launceleyn."

The sound of her voice was musical and enticing thanks to the vampire in her, but it still held some of the husky, sultry tone from when she was human. That is when it struck, and my mouth dropped open. It cannot be her; she is suppose to be dead. I had to ask, "Nera?"

Her face instantly hardened, "No, sorry to disappoint." She turned to walk back to her desk, but I grabbed her arm. I turned her back around to face me. She tried to tug free but I grabbed her by both arms and held her close as I looked in her eyes. She looked almost exactly like Nera, yet there were subtle differences that one would barely notice.

"Who are you?"

She almost seemed mesmerized as she just stared at my face. I noticed how here eyes kept trailing to my lips. So I asked my question again, and yet again, I received no answer. So taken into account how close we were and how she was looking at me, I did the one thing I knew would get her attention. I leaned my head in and hers followed suit almost as if she was compelled to do it. My hands left her arms and entangled in her hair as I crashed my lips on to hers. She answered my actions with great enthusiasm.

I finally pulled away and looked her right in the eyes, "Who are you?"

Her voice was heavy with lust as she spoke, "My name is Sephina, but you can call me Seph. Nera was my sister."

A plan instantly formed in my head as she spoke those last words. I could definitely use her to my advantage. I smirked at her, "I could ….definitely use ….your help ….on something." The sentence was broken up as I kissed her between words.

"Anything," she just barely breathed out. I could not help but smile as the word left her mouth. I pushed her up against the wall and trailed her jaw line with kisses. As I reached her ear I whispered, "Meet me in my office later. We have much to discuss." With that, I gave her one last intense kiss and headed out the door.

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_Sephina POV_

I stayed leaning up against the wall as he walked out of the room. I could not believe it. He kissed me. I had fantasized about him so many times, but always though it would stay that way. I knew he did not have feelings for me, but I did for him. Some would say it was on the brink of obsession.

I would do anything for him. I knew he was obsessed himself with the girl that was staying with the Devereux boys. I knew he wanted her above anything else. I already knew what he was wanting to discuss. He made it quite obvious when he called me Nera. He plans to use me to tear them apart so that he may have that girl, but it does not bother me. I love him and would do anything for him. Even if it was helping him get the girl, he wants over me.

I walked back over to my desk and sat down. I could not help the smile on my face as I continued my work thinking of what would happen later tonight in his office. He thought he was going to have to portray that he felt something for me by showing affection to get me to do what he wants. I would do it for him anyways but he does not need to know that. I am going to milk this for what it is worth. I will take all that he is willing to give.

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_Ok so another quick authors note. I am so sorry it has takingme so long to get this up. Hopefully it will never take that long ever again. Also please review whether it is to say you like or you dont like it, or even to say hi. I promise to say hi back lol thanks for reading :) oh yeah and quick note, i found pictures of celeberties and others that i believe look like my characters and posted the links on my profile. If you are one of those people that like sticking with your own visions of what they look like and dont want it ruined then dont click the links, or if you look at them and think you know a better person to represent the character then let me know and i will check it out. Love yall, emberlies! :)_


	18. Chapter 18

_Alright sorry it has taking me a while again to update. It has taking awhile because I not only still have writers block, but some medical and family stuff came up that had to be attended too. I am forcing myself to sit down and write again and hopefully will be able to get something out and get over this giant writers block that is making me oh so mad. Thanks for the reviews everyone! I asked my fanfiction readers for 30 to 35 and yall met me in the middle with 32. Yall are so awesome and I am so glad yall are enjoying this. Now let us get on with the story and hopefully this time once I get going I will turn in to the energizer bunny and bust down this writers block so I can keep going and going! :D_

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_Drayton POV_

It had been over a week and she still had not woken up. I felt like I was going insane. I spent the first half of the week in the room with her, but as it seemed like she would be out for a while I started spending sometime hunting and out in the maze.

Which is were I was at that moment. I was laid back on the grass trying to collect my thoughts when I heard Leila's scream and a loud crash come from Everly's room. I dashed to the room as fast as I could. I was met at the door way by Kayd's body as it came flying through the door way. I tried to catch him as we both went flying to the floor. I did not even get a chance to check on him or say anything to him. For as soon as we hit the floor he was back up and in the bedroom.

I wasted no time and shot through the door ready to kill who I assumed was someone after Everly. I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight before me. Kayd was on his way through the closet door and Everly had Leila by the throat.

"I do not need you," Everly practically spat in Leila's face.

Hearing her voice made me realize that it was not Everly as herself. The voice was deeper and more empowered. Her hair had that luminescent shimmer to it. Everly had woken up, but she was the Mynx now. I had to do something before she killed Leila. Everly would never be able to live with herself if she killed Leila, and more than likely Kayd would try to kill her for it. I just could not let that happen.

"Everly put her down."

She dropped Leila as her body went through a violent convulsion that only lasted a second before she stood up straight. She turned towards the mirror on the vanity, "Be obedient and stay quiet." She barely said this above a whisper as she stared at her reflection. If it had not been for the fact I was a vampire I would not have heard her even speak.

What was she doing berating her self? That is when realization struck. The Mynx had taken over, and Everly was fighting it. She turned and walked over to me and the door. I could tell how her body tensed as she got closer to me. She meant to walk right past me, but I was not going to make it that easy. I reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Everly please stay."

She let out a whimper and grabbed me, her lips crashing into mine. I was caught off guard and had barely begun to react when she pushed me back. She grabbed her head and let out a hiss. She started to sway off balance and grabbed the wall for support. I just stood there for what seemed like an eternity not sure what to do.

"STUPID WRETCH! QUIT FIGHTING!"

As she yelled that out she started slamming her head into the wall. I quickly wrapped my arms around her and pulled her away from the wall. She was trying to throw herself around and get out of my arms but I refused to let her go. Even as she started clawing at my arms and trying to bite me I refused to yield my hold on her.

Next thing I knew her body starting going in to violent convulsions for a few seconds that seemed to last longer than an eternity in hell as her cry of pain resounded around the room. Then her body just fell limp in my arms. She was like a rag doll just hanging in my grasp. I was not sure what to do. I was afraid if I let go of her she would wake back up as the Mynx, and what would happen then?

I turned to look at Leila to see her sitting on the floor crying in Kayd's arms. They both looked up at me. Kayd I could tell was mad but he understood what was happening and so he would not say anything against it. I was not sure why Leila was crying. Was it because she had almost died by her very own friend ripping her head off, or was it because of what was happening to Everly?

Kayd helped her up and they started to walk out of the room. As they passed by me Leila reached out her hand and placed it on Everly's head. That is when I got my answer. She was worried about Everly. As they got to the door Kayd turned back to look at me.

"You may not agree with it, but we do not know how well Everly is faring against the Mynx control. When she wakes up she could still be the Mynx. In case of that happening we need to restrain her."

He did not even wait for my response before they were out in the hallway. The sound of the door closing behind them reverberated of the walls and pressed in on the silence around me. What was I going to do? Obviously I would need to stay by Everly's side seeing as how she seems to fight the Mynx best in my presence, but what if she still is not strong enough.

I laid her down on the bed. I knew I needed to follow Kayd's advice and tie her down as a precaution but that would mean leaving her here by herself with no way of preventing harm coming to her. As if in answer to my mental dilemma Kayd came in with metal bindings. I quickly took them from him and only hesitated when it came to clasping the first binding around her wrist.

I had to constantly tell myself that it was for her own good and that she would understand and want this done in order to continue binding her to the bed. But no matter how many times I told this to myself it did not ease the hurt I felt when I looked at her. I just did not know what to do now that I had seen to her as best as I could. The only way I knew to help her was to stay by her. So I pulled up a chair and put my head in my hands as my mind started going over everything that had happened.

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_Everly POV_

After it seemed that the Mynx had decided to become one with me I had fallen into a peaceful sleep. After so long the peacefulness ended and I was left in nothing but the oppressing darkness that surrounded me. I knew something was not right but I just could not pull myself from what I had come to find was the recesses in the back of my mind. The Mynx for what ever reason had tricked me, and locked me in my subconscious. When I had left myself open to accept her I had left my self vulnerable and she seized control.

I could tell when the Mynx had awakened my body for her hold on me weakened as she had to exert more power on controlling my body. I was able to move out of the darkness and into the front of my mind. It was like when the Mynx would take over when I was fighting a super natural creature. I could see all that was going on through my eyes but I had no control over what I did or said.

I could hear the Mynx talking to Leila as if mocking her, "Do you still want my blood know? Do you want it more now that you are so close to death?"

I felt my arm reach out and throw something or someone across the room. As soon as I had made it far enough forward in my mind to see what was going on I tried to break free and retake control. The Mynx was trying to kill Leila and I would do all in my power to stop her. I tried talking to her and pleading with her. While doing so I saw Kayd come flying through the door way towards us. This only resulted on the Mynx dodging his lunge and with a quick kick adding more momentum to his body, sending him crashing into the closet.

"_Please do not kill her. She is my friend and has never intentionally tried to harm us. I need her."_

In response to my pleading the Mynx practically spat in Leila's face, "I do not need you."

And she was right. The Mynx did not need Leila, but I did. Yet I could not stop her. I could feel my tidal wave of doubt hit me and drown me. As I told myself that I was too weak and too useless, and Leila was going to die because of it. It was all going to be my fault. All I could hope for is that Kayd would kill me after it was over.

Then I heard his voice. As he said my name I felt the doubt receding and my strength renew and grow. I immediately tried to seize control of myself and try to release the grasp I had on Leila. What I was not prepared for was the blazing, intense pain that shot through my mind. One good thing came out of it and that was that I had got the Mynx to let go of Leila.

I felt my body turn and my vision followed to see my reflection. I could not believe that was me in the mirror. I had never seen another Mynx before nor did I know what I looked like when she took over, but I knew now. My hair had an ethereal shimmer to it. Some how my skin had gotten lightened even more giving me an almost haunting look along with the glowing crescent moon on my cheek. Yet what shocked me the most were my eyes. The whites of my eyes had disappeared as they were overcome by the dilation of my irises and pupils. The green on my irises seemed to almost glow. I had the eyes of a feline.

I tried to reach out to the Mynx yet again. I tried to at least get a reason out of her as to why she was doing this. She looked straight at our reflection in the mirror and told me in a low menacing whisper, "Be obedient and stay quiet." With that she turned and started walking towards Drayton and out the door. I could feel myself grow stronger the closer she got to him, and she could sense it as well as I could feel our body tense.

Yet it still was not enough to break free. That is until we got right beside Drayton and he reached out and grabbed our arm as he tried to reach out to me, "Everly please stay." After he spoke those words I was trying not to cry as all I wanted to do was kiss him and let him know how sorry I was for everything I was putting them all through. That is all it took. The sudden urge and desire with his touch and voice and I broke free. I grabbed him and pulled him into a kiss smashing his lips to mine.

Yet it was not enough. I was not able to completely break free and I felt my self thrown back in my mind as I saw the Mynx shove him away. I could feel the anger coming off of her. I took the chance and started fighting her for power. I could feel my body sway as neither one of us had full control of it. The Mynx felt it as well and both of our immediate reaction was to grab on to the wall for support.

I am not sure if it was because we had made the same decision almost as if working together as one or what, but I felt a large amount of power rush into me. The Mynx sensing this went into a rage. She started fighting with all she had, but it did not have the same effect on me anymore. I fought back as best as I could. At first I felt her fall back but this only seemed to spur her on. I did my best to ignore the excruciating pain that was building in our head at our struggle, but it was becoming a losing battle.

The Mynx laughed at me as she sensed this, but I continued to fight. The Mynx knowing that I was not going to give in resorted to trying to cause physical pain to our body to add to the mental pain that was overcoming me. I heard her yell out at me.

"STUPID WRETCH! QUIT FIGHTING!"

Then she started slamming our head into the wall. She did not care that this was causing her pain as well. All she wanted was to have control over our body. The pain was almost too where I was sure I was going to break and she was going to win, but at that moment Drayton wrapped his arms around us and pulled our body away from the wall. He added strength to me and lessened my pain.

At the same time he weakened the Mynx as she now had to fight him as well. She started trying to throw herself from his arms, biting him, scratching him. She was doing all that she could to try and get out of his grasp as well as fight of my mental strikes. We could both feel the pressure building up in our mind, but we chose to ignore it.

Little did we know that the pressure was from our psyche as it tried to comprehend what was going on in our battle of torn, divided control. Instead we both tried to use it as a weapon on each other. Oblivious to the effect it would have on us both if released.

And at the same time we both unleashed this terrible excruciating build up of pain on each other. It rushed out at us across our mind. Our body convulsed with the pain as we both let out a blood curdling scream. Then we fell into the nothingness that was left of our shattered mind.

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_Chapter End Note:_

_Again I am so sorry that I have done this to yall again. But I can honestly tell yall that though I am still a bit unsure of where exactly this is leading, while I was typing this up I could feel some of my motivation coming back and some of that writers block crumbling. So YAY! Hopefully that means I will never go this long again, and if you feel that it is taking me awhile to update ever again message me and yell at me to get my butt in gear. :D So now please, please review! All you have to do is hit that little review button right below this and let me know what ya think. Whether good or bad or not even relevant to the story just tell me anything letting me know that you have read the story. My readers and reviewers whether from fanfiction, fictionpress, or quizilla are all amazing, awesome people!_

_Lots of Love,_

_Emberlies/Emerald Dreams_


	19. Chapter 19

_Ok so I know it has been awhile but I had to have surgery and my two year old broke her collarbone. So I have had some hold ups. The good news is that during this time I was able to really think about this chapter. The problem was that I knew what I wanted the chapter to do I was just not sure how to type it up. But it has been done and hopefully it makes for a good read. This is the longest chapter I have written and is around the length of two of my normal chapters, but I just got going and could not stop. Plus I felt like yall deserved this. I have been reading some Dean Koontz and as you might be able to tell some of his darker side as worn off on me. Now with this being as long as it is I am sure I have a ton of mistakes in it so please bare with me. I will try and read over it a few times and fix what I can. If you notice anything just message me and let me know. Read, Enjoy, and REVIEW! Please. _

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_Chapter 19_

_Drayton POV_

It had been two weeks with no improvement. She had yet to utter a single sound. She passed back and forth between states of sleep and times of just staring, unblinking, at the ceiling. Sometimes her hand would twitch but other than her open, staring eyes and the slow, shallow rise and fall of her chest she held no other signs of life. What had happened to her?

Kayd had made some proposals on that idea. Neither of them I liked. Yet one seemed to be the most likely. She had shattered her psyche. Her entire life had been spent with her human side having reigning control over her mind while the Mynx lied dormant. Once the Mynx had awoken things had not been as bad for they never shared control at the same time and the Mynx was not in control often enough to do any harm. Then in a chance to save her life, Kayd assumes she tried to accept the Mynx to allow her body to accept the vampire blood running through her. The vampire blood that was suppose to heal her but instead the Mynx fought back and in turn, it was killing her.

The Mynx obviously played the part of stepping down on her aggressive nature to allow the blood to work so that they would survive, but in turn when Everly's human side did the natural thing when going through the healing process and fell asleep the Mynx lied in wait so that she cold seize control. Why she would want to seize control and act as hostile as she did, we do not know.

Kayd says that when the Mynx took control Everly must still have been sleeping in the back recesses of her mind. Yet when Everly awoke as well, she did something the Mynx was not expecting, she fought back and she fought hard. With the two exhibiting such force over the control of the mind at the same time, it was too much for the psyche to handle. It was not use to having both of them trying to take control at the exact same time and with as much strength.

This had caused her psyche to shatter, as it did not know which one of them to go to in the mind. Now she was nothing more than a vegetable with little hope of recovering. How does one come back from that? For Everly's sake, I sure hope she finds a way.

Leila though saddened her self over Everly's condition had tried to lighten the mood. She would make remarks about how much time I spent staying by Everly's side and how cute we would look together. Her last remark was saying that Everly and I were soul mates, but I knew better. Leila could not have known, to her the compatibility between Everly and I along with our attraction for one another would seem as thus, but it was not. One could not have two soul mates.

Everly might be the next best thing to my soul mate, but she was not mine. Nera had been my soul mate. Though she had built our relationship on lies and only sought my death. If she had not been so blinded by her ambition and wanting of becoming a vampire she may have seen it as well. Though it may seem a crazy thought, I know I am not just fooling my self. She was my soul mate and she was dead. Killed by my own hands. I loved her with everything I had and yet I killed her. Though through it all, I know what I felt and I know that feeling is not something that one is lucky enough to have twice.

No, Everly was not my soul mate. Nera was my soul mate and if there was such a person as to be graced with two soul mates, I know that it would not be me. I am not deserving of it, and I doubt if there even exist one who is.

A knock at the door released me from my downward spiral of thoughts. I looked up to see Leila standing in the doorway.

"You need to eat something and get some rest. I will stay here with her and let you know if anything changes while you are gone."

She held so much conviction her words as if she still held so much hope that Everly would pull through this. Kayd had long lost hope and mine was slowly ebbing away. Though she was right, I did need to get something to eat. So I nodded my head in reply and stood from the chair that sat by Everly's side. I took one last glance at her and in doing so a prominent thought coursed through my mind as I turned and walked out of the room.

I know that even if there was such a thing as one who could have two soul mates it is not me. That means that Everly's soul mate is somewhere out there. I will not keep her from her soul mate simply for my own sake. Everly deserved to feel what I felt with Nera. I will no longer stay by her side as a thought of love. Though I will not abandon her when she needs support the most. I will now be as a friend to her and give my support in such a way.

* * *

_Everly POV_

I sat in darkness it was peaceful at first leaving all the pain behind, but now it was lonely and I longed for companionship. Though I was not alone. The Mynx sat not far from me in our room of darkness that we had formed in our battle of control. Though there seemed to be a barrier separating us from one another of which I was grateful. They Mynx had tried to continue our battle here. When we first awoke here, she had dived at me and met face first with the barrier. I naturally laughed, now she sat her back to me and refused to speak to me.

I in turn ignored her. No point in wasting what energy I had on her. Instead, I tried to concentrate on myself. Other than my standard thoughts, everything else seemed…..gone. I could not feel anything other than the loneliness or recall any memories. All I know is that my name is Everly and I am part Mynx. In a battle for control of my body, the Mynx and I destroyed my mind and now here we sit.

I could feel another presence, but it was far away. I had nothing here and I feel as if I have lost many important things with no way of knowing how I am to get them back or even what they are. I am getting nowhere with this I might as well try and make peace with the Mynx. I turned to face her and as if she sensed it, she turned to face me. This was a first maybe she came to the same conclusion I did. What ever it was I decided to speak first.

"Listen I know you do not want to speak to me and you do not have to, but at least hear me out."

I waited for a response and received none. So I took a deep breath and continued.

"I know what initially got us here, but nothing other than that. I have no memories of what life was like before and it is about to drive me insane. I just wish I could remember. As it is I do not know why you tried to take control of my…our body so I can hold nothing against you. My only question for you is if you remember anything and if so will you please tell me?"

She said nothing. She just stared at me. I do not know how long I sat there waiting for a response. I eventually gave up and went to turn back around when I heard her voice.

"It was because of the vampires."

Images of Kayd, Leila, and then finally Drayton passed before my eyes. Though I saw the images and could place their names to said images, I could not recall any memories with them. Though I felt something stir as the image of Drayton held longer than the others before me. I looked back to the Mynx.

"Why? What did they do?"

She hung her head down, "They did not actually do anything themselves, but their race terminated ours."

I line from a book appeared before me. _It is said that they were hunted down to extinction a hundred years ago by vampires. Who craved their light sweet blood._

"But that happened a long time ago. They should not be held accountable for what others had done."

She snapped her head back up at me, "If you had told me that before all this happened I would have fought you over it. Now that I have sat here like this with nothing to do but contemplate the past I know that what you say holds some merit, but I cannot so out rightly forgive them."

"I can understand that. If you do not mind me asking, why are you so calm now? As we sit her and talk, I am having some memories return of you and all of them are of you fighting and being aggressive. No insult intended but you seemed more of a wild animal."

She grimaced and turned her head away, "It is because I am only half of you, and had lied dormant for so long that I never formed with you making us one. By the time I decided to show myself we had become two different beings in one body. I was angry with myself for such a thing as it left me in the back of your mind. Then whenever I had the strength to show myself it was always in a time of danger for us. My anger grew at the fact that we had been fine until you met Drayton. Then we seemed to be in trouble every minute, and you willingly stayed putting us both in danger."

I nodded my head in acknowledgement, "I see, so every time you showed you had to be aggressive in order to save us. I am sorry."

Her head snapped back to look at me a look of surprise on her face, "Why are you sorry? It is because I am too hot headed and will not let things go that we are in this mess. If I had allowed myself to see that Kayd, Leila, and Drayton are not the same as all others then I would not have lashed out at them through you. I would not have tricked you into giving up control to me so that I could attack them. I thought I was doing the right thing and saving us. I was going to get us out of there. Though now that I have had to think about it I realize what a fool I was. Even if we had gotten out of there we would not be safe."

"What do you mean?"

"Allard."

My face scrunched up in confusion, "My step brother?"

She shook her head, "You still have not caught up on all your memories. Allard is a vampire and he wants you. So that he can use our blood for what I assume is to make him stronger."

I laid back as all these new memories came flooding back into my mind. Yet there were holes in my memory. I could remember my father's death but the next thing after that was being in the library reading about Mynx. Then from there I can remember sitting in the living room with Leila and Kayd and then Drayton walking in. This seemed to bother me more than not having the memories at all. Yet I did not have the energy at the moment to try and think it through. Remembering even the little that I did had taking its toll on me.

"Thank you for telling me."

Though I could not see her face from my position I could here the pained smile in her voice, "You do not have to thank me. I owed this to you, and though it may seem all is fine with me now I will not lie to you. I do still hold some resentment and anger. For those are things that cannot be let go so easily. Now get some sleep. I can feel something changing and I do not yet know what it will bring. You will need your energy."

I did not even have time to process what she said last. For as soon as I closed my eyes I fell asleep.

I awoke some time later. I could tell something was different. For starters the far off presence was no longer there and I could now feel other things changing around me. I sat up real quick to see the Mynx pacing back and forth beside me. Apparently the barrier was now gone as well.

"What is going on?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at me, "He has left our side and the strength he gave for protection has gone with him."

I just looked at her confusion written all over my face, "Who and what?"

"Drayton is who. For whatever reason he has left our side for the moment. You may have not known it but his presence gave us strength to hold back the torture of a broken psyche. Now that strength is gone, and we must reap what we sowed."

I stood up real fast, "What do you mean? I am not liking the sound of this."

"I am hoping that some good will come out of this and by going through this we might be able to piece back together our mind. Who knows maybe by the end of it we can become whole again and it will be as one person instead of two. At least that is what I hope for."

"And I will say again, I do not like the sound of this. Why can't it be like something nice and peaceful?"

She shook her head, "Because then we would not learn from the mistakes we made and become better for it. Now-"

She stopped and turned her back to me, peering through the darkness as if she was searching for something. She turned back to me and spoke hurriedly, "Now I think I know what it is we are going to have to go through and if I am right we will have to go it alone on our own separate paths. What ever you do try and stay positive do not be brought down. No matter what you hear it is not all the truth. There is something more at play here. Something else is pulling the strings here and I can sense its malice. What ever it is it does not want us to make it out of here. You will know what the truth is when you hear it. Stay strong for if one of us fails we both fail."

With that she turned and walked off. I sat there stunned for a second before all she said set in. I tried to run after her but she was already gone. Great just what do I do know. As I thought this a door appeared to my right. I was not keen on going through it but I had not other option. I took a deep breath and headed through the door. On the other side was my sister's nursery. In the corner sat my mother holding a baby. I immediately knew this was wrong.

My mother looked up at me and smiled, "Where have you been moonlight? We have been waiting for you."

I felt a pain in my heart as she called me by the nickname she had given me. I had not been called that since she passed away. She passed away and so did my little sister. This is why this does not seem right. This is not one of my memories. This never happened.

"Come over here Everly, and hold your baby sister."

"No," I shook my head and turned to walk out of the room. If I had any doubt before to this being real or not it was gone now. As soon as she called me Everly. I did not go by that name till after I had moved to England. My mother would not have known it. If this had happened she would have called me Beverly. I could not take this anymore. As I reached for the handle she spoke again the anger evident in her voice.

"You would dare disobey me, your mother!"

At this the baby started crying, "Look what you have done to your sister! Do you enjoy causing us pain?"

My anger burst forth, "You are not my mother and that is not my sister! This never happened. You are both dead and buried in Tennessee!" I ran out of the door that I had come in, back into the darkness.

As soon as I closed the door it disappeared. I could feel my body shaking. I cannot do this. I do not have the strength for this. I shook my head. No I have to get through this. If not only for myself but for the Mynx, Kayd, Leila, and Drayton. I stood straight and continued through the darkness.

The dark slowly started going away and I found my self walking through a hallway. Yet there were no doors. I stopped to contemplate if I should go back or not. I turned and looked back at the darkness behind me. It seemed more menacing some how. No what ever the Mynx sensed was wanting me to go back and I would not let it win. As I turned back around doors lined the hallway.

I decided to try the closest one on my left and work my way down trying every door in the hallway. The first few doors would not open. But finally the fifth door did. I stepped in but left the door open behind me just in case. Before me was one of the fields from my old home. I heard laughter and looked to my right to see my mother, father, and a five year old me sitting down eating lunch. This I knew had happened. We did this a lot back when I was younger. We would all ride out mom and dad on their horses and me on my pony and have a picnic in one of the fields. I could feel an emotion overwhelm me. Happiness.

As I acknowledged this feeling and this memory the five year old version of me smiled the biggest smile I have ever seen and hugged our mother and father. I could feel strength from this and knew it was time to continue. So I turned and walked back out the door. I turned and looked back down the hallway towards the darkness that seemed to be getting closer. I quickly went to the next door. It was locked as well.

The eighth door opened for me and as I stepped in I was met with the sight of my old bedroom. A six year old version of me sat on the bed calling for her father. He walked through the door and passed right through me.

"What is wrong Beverly?" at the sound of his voice I had to choke back tears. I shook my head and tried to concentrate on whether or not this actually took place.

"There is something in the closet dad."

He got up and checked the closet then came back and sat on the bed, "There is nothing in there Beverly."

"Sorry dad. I thought there was and it scared me."

He wrapped his arms around her, "That is alright. You do not need to apologize for that. Fear can sometimes be a good thing. It keeps you prepared just in case something happens. Just make sure it is not something that controls you and everything you do because then it become a bad thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Well here is an example. If someone is afraid of horses they can either let the fear control them and never be around horses or they can just use the fear to be cautious around horses so that they are prepared for when ever a horse may buck or just suddenly take off. So it is good to have some fear and be cautious but not to let it control your life because then you would miss out on a lot of great things. Do you understand now?"

"Yeah I think so. Thanks dad."

"Your welcome moonlight. Now go to bed." with that he kissed her cheek and walked out of the room.

Yes this did happen I know it did. I used dad's philosophy on fear through many things in my life even when it came to being in a house of vampires. I smiled and walked out of the door.

I went through many other doors replaying memories in my life that held strong emotions. From a door that led to my mother's funeral where I felt sadness, a room that showed when I had received my first car and I felt excitement, and then there were two doors that showed me two different kinds of love. One led to my mother and father holding me after I had hurt myself and this showed me the tender love of a parent, and the other replayed the scene in my bedroom at the mansion when Drayton had kissed me showing me the passionate love of a lover. I even had to go through my memories of Brent and Jenny again to feel anger, betrayal, and revenge.

Though along the way it was not easy. There were many times I encountered false memories and I thought I would not be able to continue. One of the two hardest false memories to recover from was one of my father accusing me of his death he said it was my fault for being part super natural. Then the other was not so much a memory of past but of something yet to come. It was Kayd laying over a casket crying and when I entered he started yelling at me. He told me that in my fight with the Mynx I had killed Leila. She was dead and it was all my fault. He then tried to attack me but I quickly left and shut the door behind me.

I swore to my self that I had not killed her and if for some reason when I awake and Leila is dead I will gladly take Kayd's wrath. I had then wiped the tears from my face, took a couple of deep breaths and continued on.

I had not come to the end of the hall, and though I had recovered all that had seemed lost something still felt wrong. Something was still missing. Yet there were no more doors. I turned and looked back down the hallway at the oncoming darkness. No this cannot be it. There is more I just know. With that I turned back around and found that a large double door had appeared before me. With out any hesitation I stepped through and closed the door behind me. It immediately disappeared and I was left in darkness.

I could hear a low menacing laughter. It had been a trick. What was going to happen now?

Then things started taking shape around me. There was the six year old version of me. Next was my mother holding my sister with Brent and Jenny. Then my father followed by the grief stricken Kayd.

I stood there not sure what to expect. Then they all started yelling at once.

"I am scared. Help me! Why wont you help me?"

"Look what you did to me! Look at the pain you are causing your sister!"

"You're a prudent Bitch!"

"I want to see you cry!"

"You killed me! It was all your fault!"

"Leila is dead because of you! You murdered her!"

The remarks and insults just kept coming I tried to put my hands over my ears and shutting my eyes but it did not work. So I tried yelling back.

"I want to help you. I just don't know how!"

"You are not my mother and that is not my sister! I have done nothing to you!"

"I am glad I am considered a prude and never gave into you!"

"You will never get any tears from me on your account!"

"I did not kill you! I do not know what did, but I was not the cause of it! You are not my father!"

"No she is not dead! That never happened! She was alive before all of this!"

Yelling had no affect either. It just drained me of my already waning energy. Yet they seemed to never tire of throwing the accusations and insults at me. I felt weak, guilty, and wanted to give up all hope of ever recovering. What they said was right and I do not deserve to recover from this. This is my fate.

* * *

_Drayton POV_

After eating and resting I went outside. I needed some fresh air. I walked around the front yard and climbed a few trees putting my cramped up muscles to use. I found my way back behind the house and wondering around the maze. I decided to sit on a bench near the fountain and just try to relax.

My mind, however, would not allow it. It kept processing the same thing over and over again. Leaving Everly alone. She deserved to find her own soul mate. Yet if that was the right thing to do why did it seem so wrong? Why did my mind have to keep coming to that conclusion?

I shook my head and thought about the times I had with Nera. As if on cue I heard a familiar soft feminine laughter. I did not even realize I had closed my eyes and immediately opened them to look at my surroundings. There was nothing there. Great now I was hearing things.

I leaned back and almost immediately sat up as I heard her voice, Nera's voice.

"What are you doing out here silly?"

I looked around again and heard laughter, her laughter, off to my left. I got up and followed the sound. I searched for awhile before I was brought back to the fountain. Sitting there on the edge was Nera.

"I was wondering when you would find me." She smiled at me.

"No this is not real. You are not real."

She scrunched up her face, "That is not a very nice thing to say."

"No it is not, but it is true. You are dead. I know it, because I killed you."

She started laughing again. That laughter seemed to lash out and curl around my heart as I found myself walking towards her.

"I did not die silly. I was saved and became one of you. I got tired of waiting for you to find me. So I came to find you."

"No you died I know for a fact. You are here as my mind would like to see you be." As I reached her she stood up and started walking around me.

"I came to punish you for what you did to me."

I dropped to my knees before her. I was willing to accept any punishment, even death. I was just glad that even though it was all in my mind it would seem that Nera would be able to have a form of retribution on me for what I did to her. I looked up and she slapped me across the face. My head swung out to the side and I felt the stinging on my cheek. My mind was even going as far as forming the pain.

She slapped me a few more times before grabbing a fistful of my hair and pulling my head back. As she stuck a blade to my throat and started to cut slowly, painfully she whispered in my ear, "This is for my sister."

"What?"

But in a second she was gone as Kayd came tearing around the corner.

"It's Everly something is wrong."

I could not move. What had just happened? I could feel the small amount of blood going down my neck, and there is no way my mind could have done that. It could formulate pain but not make it actually happen. My mind could not make me bleed. Was Nera really here? I immediately shook that thought from my head. No that was impossible. She had said, "This is for my sister?"

I do not remember Nera having a sister. What was happening to me?

Kayd came up behind me, "Drayton did you not here me? Something is happening to Everly. What is-"

He stopped as he stepped around me to see my face.

"What happened to you?"

I stood up and started heading for Everly's room, "Kayd I need you to do me a favor. I swear I just saw Nera here and she was the one who did this to me. Before you came around the corner she was cutting into my neck and told me she was doing it for her sister. I thought I was just trying to find a way to punish myself and so my mind formulated her image and the pain, but this was real. I know Nera is dead, but what of her family? I need you to try and figure out all you can about Nera's family and if she had sister concentrate on that."

I could see the pain in his eyes. He was always so protective of me as a big brother should, but I always felt as if somehow my sorrow with Nera had hurt him as well. He nodded his head and we parted ways as I headed to the left towards Everly's room and he headed right to his office.

I had not even gotten close to the door and I could here the chains thrashing about and Everly talking though I could not make it out. As I came through the door I was met with the sight of Everly fighting against her chains, and a scared, teary eyed Leila. Before I could make it all the way into the room and close the door behind me Everly started yelling again. It first started out as a almost demonic sounding laughter then the words started coming out. With every line her voice seemed to change.

"Help Me Please!"

"I should have never let you be born!"

"I should have taken what I wanted from you anyways!"

"I will always be better than you!"

"You are the reason your mother died!"

"You are a murderer!"

Tears started coming from her eyes and her voice sounded broken, but normal as she spoke softly, "No, no please just stop."

Then there was the laughter again as she yelled out more insults at her self.

"I am so scared! Help me! They are going to kill me and you are just going to let them do it! You are just going to watch them kill me!"

"You let your sister die! How could you let that happen?"

"I should have beat you down and taken you!"

"You will be nothing more than a low life wretch!"

"You are the reason for all my pain! It was all because of you! You killed your Mother, your sister, and then me! Who will you kill next?"

"I will never see the love of my life again because of you! You killed her with your own two hands! Murderer!"

She broke out in sobs, "Please, please….just please, please…..stop. I know I am horrible. I know I deserve this, but please no more."

I could not move from the door way. What was happening? When I first came in and saw her fighting the restraints I assumed the Mynx had gained control somehow, but this is far worse. She is being tortured. At that thought I found my legs again and ran to the bed. Her body tried to jerk away from me, but she could not move far. Sensing this she started thrashing about. I got up on the bed and straddled her to help keep her pinned down. I then grabbed her head in both of my hands and tried to get her to relax.

"Everly, please calm down. Everything is alright just please calm down."

She slowly released all the tension in her muscles and after a few minutes she seemed to fall asleep. I looked up at Leila who had been crying with her head in her hands.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. She was fine for a while and then she just started yelling stuff at her self as if she was being tortured for things of her past."

"Like what? Where you able to make any sense of it?"

"The first voice I am not so sure off. It sounded like a scared little girl who was in danger. The second voice I am assuming was her mothers accusing her of killing her and her baby sister. The third and fourth I was not sure about until later stuff she started saying and I am quite sure they are Brent and Jenny. The fifth voice was her father who was blaming her for his death and all pain ever caused to him." She paused and did not seem to want to continue.

"What is it Leila? Who was the sixth voice?"

She took a shuddered breath and wiped away some tears before answering, "It was Kayd."

"Kayd? Why would she think Kayd would want to punish her?"

"It is because of during the fight with the Mynx. In her mind I am dead and Kayd keeps calling her a murderer. He is telling her she murdered me." She broke back out in sobs.

"This is not right. Something else is going on here. Someone else is pulling these strings."

"What do you mean?" Leila choked out.

"She knows she did not kill you. Even when her and the Mynx were fighting she made sure you were alive. That is was got her to fight the Mynx was that your life was in danger. And she saw you before she went unconscious and you were very much alive. Also how could she blame herself for her mother and sister dieing. She had no control over that what so ever. There is no way for her to even think she could some how be a cause of their deaths. No, something else is formulating this and putting her through it."

"Do you think it could be Allard?"

I was shaking my head before she even finished the question, "No he would not do this to her. He does not need her to be conscious for what he needs her for, but he wants her to be. He has a sick obsession with her. He wants her as a lover and he cannot have that if she is unconscious and broken like this. I do not know what it is but she does better with me here with her. I will stay here. I need you to go see Kayd. Tell him what we know and see if he has found any information on Nera having a sister."

She looked confused before she finally took in the almost healed bruises on my face and the small cut and dried blood on my neck. I shook my head before she could ask anything, "Kayd can tell you."

With that she nodded her head and with one last look at Everly she walked out of the room. I had not moved from on top of Everly. I was scared it would wake her and put her back through her torture, but I could not continue to sit on her like this. I slowly got up and moved to the chair that sat beside her. I made sure that while doing so I always had a hand on her.

As I sat there my heart asked the questions that I was trying to get my mind to forget. If leaving her to find another is the right and just thing to do then why is it hurting you so much? Why does your presence have such an affect on her if you do not share a connection similar to soul mates? I laid my head down on the bed before me. The only answer I could come up with is I do not know.

* * *

_Everly POV_

The pain it was too much. I cant do this anymore. I just want to die.

"Please, please….just please, please…..stop. I know I am horrible. I know I deserve this, but please no more."

But no matter how much I begged they would not stop. Then I felt the presence from before. If I had assumed correctly from before then Drayton was back. The voices stopped and I felt renewed strength. I knew what I had to do.

I walked over to the younger me and took her by the hand, "You can stay by me moonlight. I will protect you."

I did not let go of her hand as I walked over to the image of my mother and sister, "You cannot push your false blame on me. You are not my real mother and that baby is not my real sister. My mother died while giving birth to my sister. She was never able to hold her. Plus, you made the mistake of calling me Everly. My mother never knew me by that name."

With that she let out an angry scream and disappeared. I then moved along to the images of Brent and Jenny, "I forgive you. That is all I have to say. You did me wrong but the past is the past and you are no longer part of my life. I will not let what you did have a hold on my future. You are forgiven and forgotten."

They followed the actions of my false mother and screamed at me as they disappeared. I could already feel the menacing power of the darkness around me going away. I made my way over to my false father, "You can not force blame on me for that which I have not committed. A real father would never do that to their child, and my father loved me. He taught me to never be ruled by fear and that is a rule I forgot when I entered here, but no longer. I do not fear you. You are not real."

He screamed at me and I felt the darkness around me grow more powerful as he tried to reach out and tear the small girl from my hands. She screamed as he tried to pull her away. I tried to punch him but my arm went right through him. I did then only thing I could think of. I bent down and pulled the little girl towards me and as I wrapped her in a hug I told her the words my real father had told me.

"It is alright to be afraid. Fear can sometimes be a good thing. It keeps you prepared just in case something happens that way you know how to fight it. Just make sure you do not let your fear control you." She smiled at me and held tighter as our false father disappeared.

I then moved on to the last figure, Kayd. He stood there before me with a tear stained face, seething with anger and engulfed in sorrow, "You are not Kayd, and Leila is not dead. I remember now what happened and I know she is alive. You cannot blame for something that never even happened. And even if it had it was the Mynx not me and Leila would understand that. She would not want you to harm me."

He did not even scream. He just glared at me as he disappeared. It was in that moment I was glad he was not real and looks could not kill. With the last of them gone the darkness surged forth in a final attempt to get rid of me. Its as if it was trying to suffocate me, but I only worried for the little girl that stood next to me. As the darkness came forth I covered her with my own body. I tried to tell her not to be scared and that all would be alright but I could not breath. I did the only thing I could think off I called for the Mynx with what little breath I had, but it did nothing.

The darkness spoke out to me in the all to familiar voice from my nightmare, "You will not leave here. You very presence can ruin me and you will not be allowed to ruin all that I have achieved. You will die."

My mind started racing. Where was she? Why was she not here to help me? And then I realized why. The Mynx no longer needed to be another person. The Mynx was no longer a she or a her or even an it. The Mynx was me. I am Everly Rose and I am human and Mynx. We are now one.

The little girl smiled at me, "You did it." and with that she disappeared.

I felt stronger and more stable than I had in a long time as the darkness went away. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and when I reopened them I was met with sight of the ceiling in my bedroom.


	20. Chapter 20

_So I know it has been forever and I wish I could give you some really good reason why, but I can't. This huge delay just adds up to writer's block and a major lack of motivation, which still has yet to be found. So I am forcing myself to start this chapter and hopefully it will be like my last chapter and I will get carried away with it and end up with a really long chapter or even more than one chapter. I did not know where to go from where I ended the last chapter at but Shadowsofaflower helped me out and gave me the idea to try a chapter from Sephina's POV. So this chapter is dedicated to Shadowsofaflower! I hope I do your idea justice! Let me know if yall like it! And I swear to all of my readers that I will not just all of a sudden abandon this story and never let any of you know anything. If for some reason I decide not to continue this story I will let you know. I answered my reviews at the bottom because it was a long list. Please review!_

* * *

_Sephina POV_

"Damn I ruined it, and I was so close!"

_Crack!_

I looked up as the lightening flashed across the sky mimicking my anger. I had not immediately returned to Allard. I knew what was waiting for me there, and was trying to post pone it. Now I stood in my old family cemetery as the rain poured down around me.

_Crack!_

This time as the lightening flashed it lit up the headstone before me.

_Neranna Barlow_

_Beloved Daughter and Devoted Sister_

_1877 to 1900_

"I am so sorry I did not get your revenge."

The thunder growled around me as the wind picked up sending the leaves at my feet out before me to dance along the wind. I had to suppress an ironic laugh as looked over to the headstone that sat next to Nera's headstone.

_Sephina Barlow_

_Beloved Daughter and Devoted Sister_

_1878 to 1901_

Here I stood in front of these two head stones knowing that neither contained a body unlike the others around them. Nera's body was too badly mutilated and she was cremated instead. After our parents had passed away thinking both of their daughters dead I stole Nera's ashes. I had taken some of the ashes and placed them in a small trinket I now wear around my neck. The rest I buried next to the tree by our child hood home that our parents had moved from not long after my "death".

Yet knowing that Nera's body was not there I still came here to the only thing left that showed her existence in this world. I sat down and leaned back against her head stone as I stared at the land around me. There had been a fire here recently. The only proof sat further down the hill, charred trees on the black ground. I closed my eyes and turned my face towards the gray sky. I felt the rain come down on me. If I had been human I would have been cold and shivering. Instead the rain was comforting and the cool drops seemed to calm my anger.

Yet now I was left with the sadness and emptiness I have felt since Nera's death. I let my tears join the path of the rain drops that landed and trailed down my face. What was I going to do know? Well that was an idiotic question. I knew what I was going to do. I would return to Allard, take what ever punishment he dealt, and then I would try to come up with another way to kill that bastard, Drayton.

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it. My thoughts turned to Allard. I knew that I loved him, and the strength of that love that was on the brink of obsession was unhealthy. Hell at the rate I was going and the things he was getting himself into it was likely going to kill me. But I do not care. I would do anything for him. I just wish he would feel for me the way that he feels for that stupid Mynx. I had entertained thoughts of killing her or finding some way to get her out of Allard's life so that he would then turn to see me, but I knew I could never do that. Not to him. If I did anything to her he would kill me and if he did not know it was me I know that the pain of her gone would kill him. Why could I not be her?

_**SEPH!**_

I jumped up at the sound of his voice. I knew he was not really here, but I could not stop myself as I looked around me.

_**MY OFFICE NOW!**_

"Damn! He sounds pissed," I turned back to look at Nera's headstone one last time, "Well I have to go, but I swear to you I will find your revenge."

And with that I turned my back on the grave stones as the lightening flashed and the thunder growled its defiance. Once through the gate I ran as fast as I could to the Launceleyn Estate. I was hoping the fast run would have me dry by the time I got there, but as with most of my day, no luck. More than half of my run was through rain. As I ran up to the front door I came face to face with Allard.

"Where have you been?" His voice was low and deep, and I could tell he was trying to control his anger. His mother must have made a huge deal about his temper ending in the destruction of the house and what repercussions would be made if he lost it again. Before I even got to answer he took a step back and looked me up and down.

"Why are you wet?"

"I had to run through a storm or two to get here."

He turned his head up to look at the sunny sky above us, "Where exactly were you? Seeing as how it is a lovely day here and you had to go through two storms."

I was not sure what to say. If I told him would he consider me weak for holding on to my mortal ties? Would it turn him away from me?

"Well are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to force it out of you? I could just search your mind for the answer. If it comes to that I will make sure it is not gentle."

Well now I had to tell him. He would get the answer anyway and I might as well save myself as much pain as possible. Seeing as how we have not even got on the topic of Drayton, "I was at my family cemetery. I was seeking forgiveness from my sister and renewing my vow to avenge her."

His eyebrows shot up and his eyes glazed over. I could not read the expression on his face. It was not until I felt the pressure in my head that I realized he was verifying my answer. That is when panic hit. If he was going through what I did at the cemetery he would come to my thoughts of him. I could not allow that. I tried putting up a mental barrier of any kind. I tried to think about other things, but yet I could still feel him working through my mind.

Though I knew the pain I would go through I used my last defense. I forced my self to think about Nera. I brought up the memories of her mutilated body. I concentrated on my anger and pain. The feel of the tears running down my face as I cried out at her funeral. The cold numbing of my depression as I cut all ties to the world and sought out a vampire that would change me so that I could seek my vengeance.

I could feel the real tears streaming down my face, and though I knew Allard was still standing before me I could not comprehend it was him. I was seeing the present and reliving the past. His red hair brought up images of blood everywhere. His pale skin, the same color of Nera's lifeless, ravaged body. If I had not been so caught up in my personal torture I would realized that he had long retreated from my mind. His face a mixture of pity and grief.

But I could no longer see that. All I saw was Nera. I wrapped my arms around my self as I started to shake with the sobs that had taking over my body. It had been to long since I had cried for Nera and now that I had started I did not think I could stop. My breathing was uneven due to my crying that was surely soon to become hysterical as I could not remove the brutal images from my mind. I could feel my knees go weak and my head spin as I started to fall.

I was preparing my self for the collision with the ground below me. Hoping the pain would tear me away from the past and put me back in the present. But the pain never came. Instead I was pulled into an embrace that eased my fall to a slow decent as I came to rest on my knees on the ground. I was held close and tight as reassuring words were whispered in my ear. Allard's voice drifted through my mind like a soothing melody.

My breathing slowed and I gained control of my tears. Though a few still escaped. My mind returned to the present as my mental barriers of past memories came back up as best as they could. I held on to the man before me afraid that if he let go I would fall back into the unending hell of memories never to recover again.

I barely noticed that he had lifted me up and was carrying me into the house. We had made it all the way to a door before I noticed. He set me down and as he let go I could not help the small whimper that escaped my throat. He must have been afraid I was going to fall or go into the near hysterics again as he quickly opened the door before him and picked me back up in what seemed like a matter seconds.

I could feel the exhaustion over take me as he laid me down in a bed. I was asleep in mere seconds as my head hit the pillow. I never felt him let go of me or the door close. I had fallen into a deep sleep where no nightmares could haunt.

I was not sure how long I was asleep, but I do know that when I opened my eyes I was met with the view of the moon shining light through the balcony windows. The black curtains barely fluttering as the slight, weak breeze entered the room. I new I was not in my room. Which was understandable as Allard I am sure does not know where my room is and with the state I was in I am sure he was not going to stop to ask anyone.

Yet now the question remained, whose room was I in? Did he just randomly choose a room? Most likely the closest one to the stairs. As I lay pondering this I felt someone stir beside me. My eyes instantly widened. Who was in bed with me?

I rolled over slowly so as not to wake who ever was behind me. I was met with a strikingly handsome view. There before me lied Allard with messy hair and no shirt. As my eyes looked over his body taking in every detail I met striking green eyes. If he would not have grabbed me I would have fell on the floor. I could not stop from blurting out.

"I uh I thought you were sleeping."

A smile spread across his face and if my heart had not already stopped years ago it would have stopped now.

"I was, but I am a light sleeper. Your movements woke me."

I looked down as I prepared myself for what was to come next, "About Drayton…"

The smile slightly fell from his face, "Yes, I went to great lengths to erase your existence as much as I could, but there was only so much I could do. They will eventually learn of you, but we will be fine for a while. Hopefully long enough to finish what we started."

He took a deep breath and ran his hand over his face, "Seph I really would rather not talk about this right now. I would rather be sleeping. Now if you would be so kind…"

I did not even wait for him to finish his sentence as I started to get out of what was obviously his bed. He grabbed my arm before I could stand all the way up.

"What are you doing?"

"I am going to my room. Where you not just about to ask me to do so?"

He smiled up at me again, "No I was not. I was actually going to ask if you would be so kind as to lie back down and go to sleep so that I may get some as well."

"Oh I, uh, yes."

I laid back down on the bed and moved so that there was space between us. I heard his small chuckle and a whispered get over here, as his arm wrapped around me and pulled me to him. I had never seen this side of him before. I did not know it even existed. It was different and unexpected and definitely what I consider to be out of character for him. Yet I loved it, and it made me love him more if at all possible. If I am dreaming I hope that I never wake from this dream world.

I reached down and pinched my arm just as a precaution and nothing changed around me. I could still feel his arm around me and hear his slow rhythmic breathing. I could not help the smile that came to my face as I held on to my moment of glory, only to lose it as he whispered a name in his sleep.

"Everly."

When morning came and he awoke, I pretended to still be asleep. He got up and I could here him moving around the room. Yet I still refused to open my eyes. I could sense him standing before me, staring at me. Does he know that I am faking? I finally bent down and left a kiss on my lips before he left. As soon as I heard the door close behind him the tears came to my eyes.

Does he wish I was her?

* * *

_Ok so no I did not get carried away with this one and it is actually a bit shorter than normal, and for that I am sorry. But I have made one of my new year's resolutions to start updating this story more often. Let's hope I can keep it. Now to answer some reviews from both my fan fiction readers and my fiction press readers that I never got around to answering personally. From now on after this chapter I am going to try and answer all reviews privately, or what ever you want to call it, and I will list the names of all my awesome reviewers and leave thanks at the beginning of the chapter. I also had an anonymous review and though I love all kinds of reviews I have no name to list here to thank you, and I really like being able to give shout outs to all my awesome readers. But I am glad you liked it and am super honored that my story is the first you have ever reviewed!_

_Browneyedxbeauty - I am so glad you like my story so much, and even though you just started reading it you went through and reviewed every chapter! You are awesome! Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well._

_Dawnvamp - I am glad you loved it. I feel like that was my best chapter so far and I just hope I can keep writing chapters that meet up to its potential._

_Rocktheroxie - glad you liked it!_

_Clarrisse - sorry the update was not sooner._

_Shadowsofaflower - Yeah I think that chapter 19 has to be my favorite too. And thank you so much for the chapter idea. I hope I did you justice!_

_itsnotmeitsyou - I am glad you loved it!_

_Hehehaha94 - yeah at first I made it to where she was not going to wake up just yet, but I changed it. Glad you liked it, and depending on how I work out the details you should learn soon who it is that was trying to keep her in that comatose state._

_Mandy96 - I am glad you decided to go ahead and review! I do really love the reviews and though my updates have been long in coming that is mainly due to writers block, but the reviews do help._

_Peachie Miss - Love to hear that you thought it was Spectacular! And it should not be much longer and all your questions will be answered, hopefully!_


	21. Chapter 21

_Ok so I was still stuck on how to continue with Everly and Drayton here, but I was not lacking as much in motivation as I was before. So I sat down to type this up. I am proud that I got this out as soon as I did and it was not a whole month or more later, like the chapters before. Though I am proud of that I am not so sure about the chapter. I find it decent but not my favorite. Let me know what yall think please!_

* * *

_Everly POV_

Every muscle in my body protested as I tried to sit up. I could help the hiss of pain that escaped my lips as I felt metal bite into my sore wrists. I slowly turned my head to see that I was chained to my bed. I then noticed the mess of brown hair leaning against my bed beside me. I immediately got blushed and I knew I must have looked like a tomato.

"Well this does not look good. I wake up chained to a bed next to a messy hair Drayton. At least I can say I know nothing happened."

I could not help but laugh at my situation, which I instantly tried to stifle as Drayton started to move. I held my breath until he finally settled back down. His face was now turned to me and it looked like he had been through hell. I decided it would be best to let him sleep. So I busied myself with looking around my room. Everything seemed so much clearer, my vision sharper. Was that because of the darkness I was in so long or because I have welcomed my "Inner Mynx." God that sounded so cheesy.

I went to lean my head back on bed, but did not realize how close I was to the head board. There was a loud thunk and pain shot through my head.

"OW! Son of a -"

"What!"

Drayton's head shot up. Well so much for him getting some rest. He looked at me and his eyes widened. He even leaned away from me like he thought I might try to break my chains and attack him. What was his deal?

"Look I know I probably stink. Lord knows how long I have been lying in this bed, and I doubt any of you gave me a sponge bath. At least you or Kayd better not have, but you don't have to treat me like I have the plague. Geez"

If it were at all possible I think his eyes actually got wider. He opened his mouth as if to say something but no words came out.

"Oh come on! I know you can speak. What is wrong Mynx got your tongue?"

Still silence.

"Good lord, really? Not even my ridiculous cheesy joke got words out of you? Maybe I need to explain it. You know the saying cat got your tongue. Well you're a vampire so would it not be Mynx got your tongue? You know ha ha ha funny."

His eyebrows furrowed together, "Everly but, you….Mynx…"

"Just spit it out already, or at least unchain me. My wrists are really starting to hurt."

I was not lying either my wrists were killing me as was my head. He stood up and I mentally shouted for joy as I though he was going to undo the chains but no of course not. What does my prince charming do?

"Kayd!"

Yep he screamed for his brother. Kayd and Leila burst through the bed room door mere seconds later. They both stopped just short of the bed and stared at me. Leila looked like she was about to start crying, again that is from what I could tell from the tear streaks on her face. She grabbed Kayd's arm and whispered, "No, not again."

I could not stand it anymore, "What! Do I have something on my face? Is there a booger hanging out of my nose? Do I really just smell that bad? Would someone just please tell me what is going on and why yall wont stop staring at me?"

Kayd reacted just like Drayton. His eyes got bigger, some how, and he turned to look at Drayton. Leila just stared at me.

"Hel-lo? Am I talking to myself? I know yall can hear me."

No one moved. Maybe I am still dreaming or something. Only one way to tell I got to pinch myself. I looked at the chains holding my arms back. Well so much for that plan. Well only one other way. Seeing as how Leila was the only one looking at me I chose her.

"Leila will you pinch me please? I need to know whether or not I am still dreaming."

Kayd and Drayton turned and looked back at me with serious faces. I thought my plan had failed until Leila busted out laughing. She walked around the bed to me. Kayd tried to grab her arm but she evaded him. She reached out for my arm and gave me a pinch.

"Ow! You could have been a bit easier. That really hurt. Thank you though. Now that I know I am not dreaming and I cant seem to get a reply from either one of them maybe you can answer my question. What is wrong?"

"Hold on just a second." She walked over to the vanity and grabbed a hand mirror. She walked back over and held it out in front of me.

My mouth dropped at what I saw. My hair had slightly lightened with an almost luminescence look and was similar to before when the Mynx had taking over. My scar as well seemed lighter just not glowing. Yet what got me the most were my eyes. It was like my human features had fused with my Mynx features. The iris and pupil of my eyes had got larger like when I was Mynx but I still retained the whites of my eyes.

I rolled my eyes, "God my eyes make me look like an anime character!"

This earned me not just laughter from Leila but a snort from Kayd as he tried to contain his laughter. Leave it to Mr. Serious, Drayton to keep just staring at me. I had to get some reaction out of him.

"You know it is rude to stare," and with that I stuck my tongue out at him and crossed my eyes. Leila and Kayd laughed but he just rolled his eyes.

He ran his hand down his face, "God Everly. Can you be serious for one minute? We need to figure out what happened. You know you put us through a lot."

I bit my lip and looked down. He was right I had no idea what they had to go through. I went through my own personal hell, but I guess I was just so happy when I made it through and I was "complete" I figured everything would be fine when I woke up. I did not give one thought to what they may have gone through. I could not help the tears that welled up in my eyes as I thought about my changes. It seemed that not only my physical appearance but my personality had changed as well. I was mostly the same, but there were some differences.

If I had still been just my human self I would have woke up and been serious not playful. What else was going to be different? I felt the tears fall down my cheeks and was glad my hair had fallen over in my face. I could not help the small smile that came across my face as I felt Leila's hand on my arm and her whisper, "What an ass."

Of course Drayton heard her and I am quite certain that, though she whispered it, she meant for him to hear it. Though Drayton was right. They needed to know what happened.

"I became one with the Mynx. I know it sounds cheesy, but it is true."

Kayd perked up, "How did you do that?"

I smiled of course that would perk Kayd up he loved learning about stuff, "Well I just sat in the darkness for a while with most of my recent memories gone. The Mynx talked to me about having to go through a trial of sorts to get out of the situation we were in. She told me to be careful though cause she could sense another presence and then she walked off leaving me alone."

"I went through my trial of finding my memories along with the emotions involved with them. I also saw a few false memories along the way. When I got to the end of my trial I was surrounded by the people of my false memories. It was hard and I kept wondering where the Mynx was to help me. I only made it through and woke up when I realized that I did not need to the Mynx to come help me cause I am the Mynx. Now here I am."

Kayd let out a low whistle, "You are so going to have to meet me in my office later and give me every detail."

He smiled real big and Leila scowled at him, "Good lord Kayd."

He laughed at her, "What? I can not help it. The knowledge calls me."

Leila just rolled her eyes and turned back to me.

"So is that why yall were wary of me at first? Yall thought that I had woken up as the Mynx?"

Leila looked sad for a moment before smiling, "Yeah, but that is all cleared up now. I am sure you want to take a nice long bath so we will get out of here and let you get refreshed. Come on boys."

I could not help but laugh as Kayd snorted, "I am not a boy, woman. I am a man." He even made his voice deeper as he ended the sentence.

"Yeah, Yeah what ever you say sweet heart," Leila smiled back at me as she started to follow Drayton and Kayd out of the room.

"Umm guys. A little help here."

They all turned back to look at me trying to figure out what I was talking about.

Drayton spoke, "With what?"

"Are you serious? You can not see what my problem is?" as if to emphasize it I shook my hands and feet causing the chains to rattle. Leila started laughing, but abruptly stopped as a mischievous smile crossed her face, "Drayton has the key," and with that her and Kayd continued out the door.

I was so embarrassed as Drayton walked over and started unlocking the chains. As he leaned over to unlock my other hand our faces came close together. I felt the electric current jolt through my body as I stared into his eyes. I noticed his eyes kept lingering down to my lips before snapping back up to look in my eyes. I wanted him to kiss me so bad. We both started leaning our heads in, but just before our lips could meet he grimaced and turned his head away.

I just sat there in shock as he finished unlocking the chain. He would not even look at me. What was wrong? What had happened while I was out? I bit my lip as he turned to walk out of the room. Should I say something now, should I wait, or say nothing at all? He turned back with one quick glance at me as he shut the door behind him. I did not miss the sad look on his face during that brief moment. What is happening?

I just sat there I did not want to move. My thoughts were swirling in my head. I finally came to the conclusion that maybe a nice long hot bath would help me feel better and maybe even help me with my thoughts. I slowly stood up on shaky legs and made my way to the bathroom.

As I waited for the tub to fill up I just stared at my reflection in the mirror. What other changes was I going to find? Why was Drayton acting like he was? Did it have to do with something that happened when I was going through my memories? Or maybe it was me? Was it because of how I had changed? I honestly did not think I looked that different. It was just my eyes and my hair, which was not even that different. It was the same color just a bit lighter. What was it? I actually thought we were getting close. Was I the only one that felt the chemistry between us?

I slowly lowered my self, stiff muscles and all, into the tub. I sighed as I laid my head back and closed my eyes. My thoughts still swirling every where. Then it all came to stop as one name popped in my head.

Nera.

Was it because of her? What happened with her or how he felt about her? It had to be. I could feel the tears start to well up as one question kept going through my mind.

Does he wish I was her?

* * *

_Though not very proud of the chapter I like how I ended it. Giving it a throw back to how Seph's chapter ended. Let me know if yall liked it or hated it please. Now to give recognition to all my amazing, wonderful, awesome reviewers! Sadly I had no reviews from any of my fiction press or quizilla readers. But all my fan fiction reviewers made me smile and helped get this chapter out sooner! Way to go you awesome readers you! : )_

**_Clarrisse_**

**_Shadows of a flower_**

**_Aniw8i_**

**_Brown Eyed x Beauty_**

**_Rock the roxie_**

_Oh by the way I meant to mention it last chapter and I believe I forgot. Along with the links on my page that go to pictures of Everly, Leila, Drayton, Kayd, and Allard I have added a link for Seph/Nera. They share just the one link since they are suppose to look practically the exact same. So if you want to check it out and let me know what ya think that would be awesome! Also it is late, I am tired, and I really want to get this chapter up so I did the Microsoft spell/grammar check but it does not always pick up all mistakes such as if I accidentally typed not instead of no. Which I realize has become a habit of mine for some odd reason. But I want to get this up ASAP so I am not going to read over it just yet. I will do it later and if there are mistakes I will correct and repost. If you notice anything as well please let me know._

_Lots of love,_

**_Emberlies/Emerald Dreams_**

_p.s. I am getting an amazing response in reviews and traffic from fan fiction and some what so from fiction press, but not so much quizilla. I will give it a few more chapters but if I do not get any messages from readers, seeing as how they don't let you review, letting me know that yall are actually enjoying the story and not just pulling it up reading a few words and think what kind of crap is this. Then I am more than likely going to stop updating the story on there and will instead remove it. So if you are one of my quizilla readers out there reading this send me a message if you want to keep reading my story on the quizilla site._


	22. Chapter 22

_Oh my gosh every one I am so sorry it has taken this long to update but almost a week after my last update I come home from visiting family and my husband tells me the computer crashed while I was gone. And it took two months to get it fixed but I am finally back up and running again so hopefully nothing else will delay my updates. Again I am sorry it has taking so long and for those who have still stuck with me through all this yall are amazing! And to any new readers I hope you are enjoying this story. Please R&R!_

_Drayton POV_

This was going to be harder than I thought.

I forced my self to stay away from her completely, but our encounters were unavoidable. We would step out into the hall and bump into one another or walk into a room that the other was in. At first she would just stand there and stare at me. I would have to be the one to leave; the tension between us growing every time I turned my back on her.

I thought it would get easier once she started trying to avoid me as well. If we ran into each other now she was the first to retreat, but the pained expression on her face and the realization that she was finally pulling away from me just made me hurt more. I thought this was for the best when I was pulling away from her, but when she pulled away from me…..

Now here I was standing in the door way to the exercise room watching her take her frustrations out on the punching bag before her. The rage and pain was in every blow she struck.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Right.

Left.

High kick.

Knee.

It felt like she was hitting me and I imagine that my face is what she is picturing when she strikes. I know I deserve it, but this is too much. I can just give in and see where it goes? I can love her and let her love me if she so chooses? But what if it does not work out?

It wont work out. She will meet the one meant for her. Where will that leave me? What pain would it put us both through? No. No matter how hard I have to keep going down this path I chose. It is for the best. With that final conclusion I turn my back on her yet again and walk away.

_Everly POV_

Right Nera.

Left Nera.

Right Nera.

Right Nera.

Left Nera.

High kick Nera.

Knee Nera!

I do not know what Nera looks like, but I imagine that she is some dark beauty. I am fair skinned, light hair, and light eyes. Now made even lighter by accepting my supernatural side. With how he has started avoiding me like I have the plague I can only assume that I am not what he desires. He desired Nera so she must be the opposite of me.

So I imagine her face on the punching bag before me as questions swirl in my mind. I was obviously good enough before so what changed? What was wrong with me now? Or maybe nothing changed. Maybe I was never good enough. I was always wrong. I must have just been a play thing for him.

My thoughts hit a down ward spiral and my new emotional personality got the better of me as my rage rose.

"That Bastard!"

I struck out at the punching bag. My new found strength led by rage breaking it off its support and sending it half way across the room, before it landed with a loud thud. I could feel the tears forming. I will not do this. I will not cry for him. I will not cry for that bastard.

"Everly?"

Leila's voice rang out in the sudden silence in the room.

"What do you want?"

My out burst sent a few tears down my cheeks. I turned to look at Leila. She looked angry until she noticed my expression. She walked straight to me and took me in her arms.

"I am sorry. I did not mean to yell at you."

I could feel her shake her head, "There is no reason to apologize. I know what has been going on. Someone would have to be blind not to see that things have taken a drastic change between you and Drayton."

"Do you think that he just used me?"

She instantly pulled back and held me at arms length, "Everly I can truthfully tell you that he is not that type of man. But his mind works differently and while you were working out your inner problems he had a lot of time to think and over analyze things. There is no telling what he came up with. Then there is also the whole seeing Nera thing."

My head shot up at her name, "Nera? I thought she was dead?"

"She is, we think maybe Nera had a sister that was wanting revenge."

"But her sister would be in her hundreds by now."

"Not if she became a vampire. Which is what Drayton said she was. He thought at first that she was Nera. That his mind had conjured her as a way of punishing himself for what he did. Until she tried to slit his throat. As she started she told him that it was for her sister. Luckily before she could fully cut into him Kayd walked in."

I just shook my head, "I had no idea."

"Yes, that is one of reasons Kayd has locked himself in his office. That and of course what you went through. But for all the phone calls and research he has tried he has only found out that Nera did have a sister once and there is record of her death, but we cannot get anymore details. We do not know how old she was or were her grave is located or if there is even a body in it. This is really bothering him. He does not even come out to eat, I have to take him food. It is getting ridiculous. I understand the situation asks for fast answers, but starving himself will not get them faster."

She took a deep breathe and smiled at me, but even knowing this I could not return her smile, "I am sorry Leila, but I just….I just don't know what to do. I can understand him hurting after that, but treating me like he has been…..I don't know what to think anymore."

With that I brushed her arms off and walked away. I walked to my bedroom not even sparing a glance at his door. I heard a door open before I reached mine. Before I would have faltered maybe even looked back to see him in hope that he was heading this way, but not now. I could feel eyes on me as I continued on my way not missing a step. I walked straight to my door not even turning as I closed it behind me.

If it was not for the fact that not only Allard was after me but now an unknown enemy as well I would have just gone home. Left this all behind, but how long would I live? This unknown threat obviously wants me dead. Allard does not want me dead, but there are some things worse than death.

I walked to the bathroom not even worrying about closing the door. If any one came in it would be Leila and she would not just walk into the bathroom looking for me. I started the shower. I did not want to relax and soak in the tub. I just wanted to quickly wash away all the sweat and stress so that I could go to sleep and forget all about my life if just for a while. I quickly washed in hot water. As I stepped out I had to admit that I felt a little better.

As I slipped on some pajama pants and a tank top I realized that I was not quite ready for bed. What I needed was some air. I headed out the door and down the hall towards the library. As I walked by Drayton's room I could here Leila yelling at him. No doubt about what he was doing to me. She was like an older sister, but yet I wished that she would just leave things alone sometimes. She always wants to fix the situation and protect people, but she cannot fix everything and protect everyone.

As I entered the library I immediately felt the cool breeze from the balcony. I headed straight out to look at the maze down below. My enhanced sight making it even more breath taking. I could make out every detail even from up on the balcony. Every flower, every curve in the hedges, even all the small fire flies doing lazy circles. If it had not been for the sight I would not have noticed the shadowy figure down below darting through the maze.

Though for all my sight I could not make out who it was. I looked down to the ground directly below me, trying to gauge the distance. I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled it as I talked myself into it, "Supernatural right? Then I can do this." I took one more breath and leaped over the side of the balcony, trying not to scream as the ground rushed up to meet me.

Surprisingly it was a lot softer landing than I expected, but not great. I landed on my feet but was not able to stop my momentum as I continued down. My feet flew out in front of me and I landed flat on my butt. I silently congratulated myself on not yelling out and for the acceptable landing before I took off into the maze after the figure.

_Drayton POV_

It was not long after getting back into my room that Leila burst through the door. I should have expected this. I should have seen it coming, but it still caught me off guard.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Hello to you too. It was awfully polite of you to knock and announce yourself before coming in."

I did not hide the sarcasm in my voice. I already new what this was about and I did not want to listen to what she had to say. I did not want to deal with her right now. I think that she could sense it too, cause she did not waste anytime getting out what was bothering her.

"Do you know what you are putting Everly through? I understand that this whole thing with Nera and her sister have upset you, but do not take it out on her. She is good for you and you for her. You know that now she thinks that you were just using her! She asked me if I thought you were! I told her that you were not that kind of man, but with the way you have been acting I don't know If I should just go back to her and tell her yes. She was right you were just using her. You just saw her as something fun, something to take your mind off things."

I was trying to block her out. Trying to keep my resolve from earlier, but Leila knows how to push my buttons. I could not stop my anger from erupting on her, " I cannot believe you! This is none your damn business and you do not need to tell her anything. I have my reasons and that is damn good enough. I do not need to explain myself to anybody!"

I don't think I have every seen Leila so mad, "I can promise you that your "reasons" are NOT good enough. Not with what you are putting her through. She does not deserve that. You can just look at her and see that she has been beating herself up about it. This whole thing you have going on is not only affecting you and her either. She has pulled away from all of us because of you! You are just so stupid! What are you going to do if she tries something stupid because of this? She loves you and now you have abandoned her for no reason. I cannot believe you! If your going to keep this up why don't you just kill her like you did Nera! That will get her out of your life so that you will not have to put up with her anymore!"

I could not contain the snarl that erupted from my throat. I had to get out of there before I did kill again, and she was making it awfully hard to resist tearing her throat out. The only thing that kept me even remotely in check was the thought of Kayd. Though I was still shaking I walked past her to the door. As I opened it my anger got the better of me as I crumpled the door knob in my hand. When I stepped out into the hall I heard Leila say just above a whisper, "I am so sorry."

I did not stop to even recognize she had spoke. Three steps down the hall and I burst forward into a sprint, in mere seconds I was in the maze. I darted left and right as I made my way to the fountain in the center. Though it took mere seconds it felt like it took forever. Finally standing in front of the fountain I faced the black marble carving of the man crying his rage out to the sky above him. I felt like doing the same at the moment.

I small gasp behind me alerted me as I whipped around I saw Everly standing at the entrance in her pajamas. I knew I should say something but the words would not come. Though words seemed lost for me they were not for her. I could see the anger and pain well up in her as she built up her courage and unleashed them on me.

"What did I ever do to you? You are just a selfish pig using girls thinking that they will help you forget or maybe even replace that damn bitch! Then when they can't you just drop them and act like they don't exist not even giving a damn what you are putting them through! So what number am I? How many girls failed before me? When did you realize that I was a failure like all the others? Well you know what, I am sorry. I am sorry that I am not good enough to replace her, but don't take it out on me or some other girl! If you want to punish some one, punish your damn self! After all you are the one that murdered her!"

I saw white. I lunged at her and the electrical shock through my body only fueled my adrenaline fed rage.


	23. Chapter 23

_I am starting to write this chapter exactly one day after my last update so lets see how long it takes to get it posted. Hopefully it does not take long. To all the people who have already reviewed, alerted, or added this or myself to your alerts, Thank you so much yall are amazing! You have motivated me to start this chapter as soon as I am. I hope I do it justice, since I had not really planned this chapter out in my story so I am winging it. Now lets start the action!_

_Everly POV_

I knew to expect some sort of action after I said what I did like for him to yell back at me, but I was not expecting for him to attack me. The instant he lunged it felt like time slowed down. I could see him coming straight at me, fangs out, and eyes blood red. Everything else around me was blurred but him….him I could see perfectly and it only added to the terror going through me.

If it had not been for my new instincts I would have been dead in a matter of seconds. Instead I lunged to the side hoping to clear enough distance, but it was not enough. As he met my pervious location I was still in mid lunge. My forward motion immediately halted as he grabbed my ankle and slung me back towards him.

I turned in the air to meet him and my hand came across his face leaving four bloody trails down the side of his cheek and knocking his head to the side. It may have been minor damage but it was enough for me to land and regain my stance before he advanced again. He instantly went for my throat. He seemed to be so blinded by his rage that he could not think of anything but using his brute force to kill me.

He leapt forward, arms stretched out for my throat. I could feel his gaze on the rapidly pulsing vein in my throat. But for all his offensive strength he did not care for his defense. He left himself wide open, and I happily took the advantage. As he tried to close the small bit of distance between his out stretched hands and my throat; I crouched down and with as much force as I could muster I kicked out at his knee. I had hoped it would send him back and maybe even immobilize him, but vampires are tougher than I gave them credit for.

I could tell however that I did hurt him, but not to the effect I was wanting. He stumbled back yelling out before coming straight back at him. I dodged as he grabbed for me and threw out two punches, both successfully landing on his face. But I got to cocky with that success and tried to get in another punch or two when he caught my wrist and twisted as he brought me towards him. He was already starting to turn his head for the best advantage at my throat when I did the only thing I could think of.

I head butted him right in the nose. This action may have got him to let me go and stagger back as blood gushed from his newly broken nose, but as the saying goes…No body wins in a head butt. My head was reeling and the pain was horrible. Yet even with the pain I moved backwards trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

He recovered faster then I had hoped as I was still having trouble seeing. His strategy obviously having changed as he raced towards me and grabbed my arm. He was throwing me towards the fountain before I had even processed what had happened. As I went through the air I prayed that I had at least giving myself enough credit as a mynx to survive this, but the odds were not looking good. To say I hit with a bang would be an understatement . I hit and it sounded like a bolt of lightening had struck the ground as I felt the marble crack underneath the pressure. But my momentum did not want to give in yet. For as soon as my back hit, my head continued on its path.

Everything went white. I felt like throwing up, but I was alive. Now for how long was the million dollar question. I could feel the blood trickling down my scalp. I knew that he was likely to reach me soon and I needed to do something. The thought of dieing in such a helpless state caused my new pride and old stubbornness to will my body to work. I opened my eyes and pulled myself up. I was not as badly hurt as I had expected. If I was to die it would at least be while fighting and not while laying incapacitated in the fountain.

It had to of taken at least a minute or two for me to recover, and that was more than enough time for him to kill me. So what had happened? I stepped out of the fountain and tried to get my eyes to focus through the pain. Before me was the sight of Drayton being held back by Kayd.

"Everly run!"

"Can't you calm him!"

He turned to look at me his face grim, "This is not bloodlust."

Drayton took advantage of Kayd's distraction and threw him to the side. I did not need any other source of motivation to get out of there. I ran as fast as I could through the maze. I could hear him behind me; getting closer every second. I had no clue where I was running to; I just ran. As I rounded a corner I chanced looking back only to see Drayton fly around the corner with enough momentum to slam into the opposite hedge.

I saw another opening with light streaming through and felt relief as I tried to figure out how I had found the exit. I know I had taking a few wrong turns, but some how I ended up finding the way. However my relief was short lived as I turned to go through the opening only to be met with the sight of the fountain. I had ran in a circle.

I could not help but falter as my hope fell, but the sound of him behind me pushed me forward. Yet that was all it took. That split second of losing hope. That small bit of forward momentum lost. I felt him slam into me. I was on the ground an instant later; his weight pushing in to my back. He flipped me over and pinned me to the ground.

This was it. I was done for. I could feel his murderous glare on me as he wrapped his hands around my throat. So this was how it was going to be. He did not want my blood. He just wanted my death. His grip tightened and the edge of my vision started closing in. Soon everything was black except for his face before me. I fixed my gaze to his as I chocked out his name, "Drayton."

His face flashed through several emotions and though he did not release my neck, he did weaken his hold just enough for me to take a small breath and make my head spin. Then there was another man's voice, an all to familiar voice.

"No!"

Something collided with Drayton and knocked him off of me. I instantly pushed up on my hands and tried backing away. Survival the first thing on my mind. I backed all the way into one of the hedges before looking up at the sight before me. Drayton was wrestling around on the ground with Allard. Where had he even come from?

They were moving so fast I could not even tell who had the upper hand. Drayton ended up on type but before he could take advantage of the position Allard knocked him away. Drayton dove for him again but was pulled back by Kayd.

"Drayton let it go! Calm down!"

"He is after her!"

Leila's voice rang out loud and clear, "No, it was you who was after her. Allard saved her."

No one missed the pained expression that crossed Drayton's face as he quite struggling against Kayd's hold. They were on one side of the clearing with Allard on the other. I was in between pressed up against the hedge and as Allard started making his way towards me I wanted to run, but I not only did not know where to go but also did not have the energy. So I just tried to push harder into the hedge. He made it about half to me before Drayton growled. He stopped where he was and bent down to my level.

"Are you alright?"

I did not know what to say. My last encounter with Allard had been the complete opposite of this. I merely nodded my head yes before looking over to the others. Kayd still had his hand resting on Drayton's shoulder, ready to hold him back if needed. Leila looked about ready to kill Drayton, and with the look on her face if she tried she probably would. Drayton kept his head down not even looking at me. Allard's voice snapped me from my observation to look at him. First thing I noticed was that he was closer, but still kept a respectable distance.

"You are not safe here Everly. Who knows when you could be attacked again. Come with me and I will protect you from them."

Even from my distance I could feel Drayton's emotions running high. A quick glance over showed that Kayd had put both hands on Drayton, before looking up at Allard.

"You know who the other attacker is?"

Allard's face went grim, "Other attacker? What are you talking about?"

As Kayd informed him about the other attacker in as few words as possible and leaving out quite a few details, I watched Allard's face for any signs of recognition. All I saw was anger.

"I did not know of this, but it will be something I look into. Now Everly, As you can see these people are not capable of keeping you safe. I believe it would be in your best interest if you came with me."

Drayton exploded, "And what the hell makes you think that you are any better? You were the first one to attack her!"

Allard just took it before smirking. I knew what ever he had to say was not going to go over well, and that I needed to step in.

"Yes, but I do not have a history of massacring my lovers. I am not like you Drayton. I respect my loves choices and do not kill them in fits of anger."

I was too late. If not for Leila and Kayd instantly moving to grab him, Drayton would have already killed Allard and probably me in the process in the close proximity.

Leila spoke out with surprising vehemence, "She would never leave us for you."

Allard looked about ready to strike back when I cut in. I was not about to let him make the situation worse so I stood up drawing everyone's attention to me.

"Oh really Allard you respect ladies' choices?"

"Of course my dear."

"Then you will respect my choice to stay the hell away from you. I am not and will never go anywhere with you. I would rather cut off my own arm. But neither will I stay here."

The all looked ready to speak out, but I needed to continue and get it all out or I never would.

"Yes it is true. I am not safe here, but I would not be safe with Allard either. I am tired of relying on others to protect me. To many people including myself are getting hurt, if not physically then emotionally. Thinking back on it all I can only come to one conclusion. I want to go home. Just me, by my self. I can handle anything that comes at me on my own."

Drayton's voice could barely be heard, "Everly if this is-"

"No, This is something I have thought about for awhile. This has nothing to do with what just happened. I do not blame you for that. It was my fault. I should not have said the things that I did."

"But you would not have had to say them if I was not being stupid!"

I had to try and keep my voice from shaking. I was exhausted already and the stress of the emotions around me and in me where getting to me, "Enough! This is my choice. Even if it is not the right one I will deal with the consequences on my own. Allard you need to respect my choice as you said you would and leave. Leila and Kayd I want to thank you for everything. Drayton….I hold nothing against you. It is time I started handling things on my own instead of letting others take the burden. To do that I need to leave."

I immediately turned and walked away. I did not wait for their replies. I did not want to hear them. This was my choice and not one made lightly. I had thought about it the past two days and had not made my decision till I had gone out on the balcony not but fifteen minutes ago. Though it was harder than I thought it would be when it came time to leave. I needed to do this for me. I had always felt like I had stood strong on my own, but since that night on my birthday I have been nothing but a burden to others and put them in harms way. This was not me and it is time I got back to being me.


	24. Chapter 24

Outside the old castle the storm raged, every flash of lightning sending haunting shadows through the halls. The only source of light in the whole place was one candle lit room somewhere down the maze of hallways, deep into the castle. This room contained nothing more than an antique desk with a chair. The only sign that some one had been using the room were the pools of melted candle wax, and the papers on the desk.

Now a figure paced about the room. His disheveled, dark hair reached his ears. Though handsome, his eyes are what captivated everyone he encountered, be they human, vampire, or other. They were hazel with red lines. Unlike the other vampires whose eyes held the red ring around the pupil, his eyes had red lines that formed the shape of the crosshair on a gun. As the four lines stretched from the pupil and stopped just outside the iris, the end of the red lines contrasted greatly with the white of the eye. It was a mark that distinguished him and others of his house from all the other vampires.

At that moment, those eyes searched the walls as if he was expecting them to show him the answer to his problem. His entire house was at stake here. All because of her mere existence. It could not be this hard to take out one person, whether supernatural or not.

Too many people are being drawn into this. When this started he only wanted to kill her, but now he does not see any other way around the situation before him. If he has to kill them all then he will. Killing them is not the problem, but explaining all the deaths of such high-ranking houses' sons is.

His frustration shows as he slams his hand down on the antique wood desk in front of him. The wood cracks and groans under the force. Damn werewolves are good for nothing. They were supposed to kill her, not attack the younger Devereux boy. What was he even doing there anyways?

Oh well that is something to ponder another time. Right now, his biggest threat is Allard Launceleyn. He has to disappear and quick. Though the man hates to use such unreliable sources, the werewolves will do fine. That way there is nothing to cover up. He killed one of their own. That is their motive and there is nothing more to it.

Once Allard is gone, the only ones left to deal with will be Drayton Devereux, Kayd Devereux, and his fiancée Leila Durnin. The girl will definitely be easy, but the boys are another story. Drayton has a more personal connection with the girl and his temper is quite short. It all adds to his prowess, but it blinds him. That can be used to the man's advantage. Kayd may not be the stronger of the two, but unlike Drayton, he has better control of his emotions. He thinks his moves through instead of blindly rushing in. Yet I wonder how strong his control will be when his loves life is on the line?

There is much to think through and plan. However, he needs to go speak to some werewolves. There is a boy who needs to disappear first. He put out the candle and headed through the maze of halls he knew by heart.

_Allard POV_

As I lay on the ground outside the estate, my thoughts completely consumed me, blocking out all around me.

I had been going about the whole situation the wrong way. I learned from my last encounter from Everly that I need to appeal more to want what was best for her. Therefore, as per her request I did not follow her. Though I did monitor her, I let her have her space. Every few days or so I would send flowers with a note declaring my deepest regret of how I had treated her and asking for her forgiveness. I told her that she had shown me the light and had made me a better person. That I was changing for the better. Everything a girl would want to hear.

Every girl except her apparently. The eyes I had on her informed me that she never once took the flowers. Instead she through them across the yard. She would how ever take the card and read it. Then she would tear it up and throw it away. She was quite frustrating, just like Seph.

Damn it! Every since I granted Everly the space she desired I have been spending more time with Seph. I now find that, unlike before when my mind thought of nothing of Everly, my thoughts were now starting to revolve around Seph. Every time I started dwelling on Everly I would bring in a comparison of Seph. When there was nothing to do I would sit back, relax, and recall memories of when I lived with Everly and her father. Instead, memories of my days with Seph would come to mind and I would picture her smiling face. Which now that I think about it she never smiled much that I knew of, except for the few times when we were doing stuff together. She has a beautiful smile.

I sat up fast. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Are you alright?"

I turned to see her standing in front of me with a concerned look on her face. I had to actually force myself not to smile and say that I was fine just to reassure her. This pissed me off more than anything did. The first thought on my mind was that she was distracting me and ruining all of my plans. I had to get out of here and away from her. I stood up and glared at her.

"It is none of your damn business." I growled at her trying not to raise my voice least some one hears. My mother has been absolutely pleased with the fact that I have been spending more time around Seph. Better to say she has been horrible pushy and straight forward. I believe her words were, "Marry Her!" and "If you love me you will marry her. Do not be like your brothers Allard and marry some wench from a lower house who is just trying to get standing. That would just break my heart. She is perfect for you and for this house. Marry her." There was no beating around the bush when it came to mother. She does not believe in being subtle.

I saw the hurt flash on her face before she quickly hid it behind a mask of anger, "What the hell is your problem?"

"You are my problem! You are ruining everything. I had my goal set and my determination set. I was on a straight line to get my prize and then you show up pushing your way into it!" Her eyes flashed bright red before returning to their captivating green.

"Do not blame this on me you arrogant prick! You are the one that brought me into this; it was all your idea!" As she was yelling, she came towards me.

"That was the biggest mistake I could have ever made!"

As I finished the sentence, she smacked me right across my left cheek. I saw red for a few seconds before my vision refocused. However, all I could see was her face before mine. Even angry she was breath taking. I instantly put my hands on her face and captured her mouth. It was not sweet and short. It was ruff. I was claiming her as mine and only mine and all be damned she, and everyone else, would now this.

As I let her go a faint smile hung on my lips, but I saw the tears in her eyes. She leaned forward and kissed me lightly before she smacked me again. Any trace of the smile I had, left.

"I am the most perfect mistake you have ever made," she growled before turning and walking away.

Seeing her walk away with the hurt as evident on her face as the tears in her eyes was too much. I felt crushed, but that was instantly replaced with anger. I was angry with my self oddly enough. I should be mad at her, but as soon as I thought it, I just got even madder with myself. I instantly stormed off. As I reached the tree line at the back of the estate, I punched the tree beside me. I am in love with that feral woman! She drives me insane, but damn it I love her.

Remembering how I felt when she walked away brought another thought to me. Was that how Drayton felt when Everly walked away? I punched the tree again. What the hell is wrong with me? I do not care if that was how he felt. With my inner turmoil raging, I blocked out all around me. I punched the tree one more time and as it came crashing to the ground I stormed off into the woods.

_Nera POV_

"_**THAT…..THAT…..UGH! JUST THAT! What the hell was that?" **_I punched out at the side of the house in frustration.

He cannot blame me for everything, call me a mistake, and then kiss me! I cannot believe I hit him, twice. He deserved it though, and probably more than twice. He seemed fine and then he switched to pissed so fast and started yelling at me. Oh, I HATE HIM! Then he kissed me like our lives depended on it and after hitting him as I did my life probably did. The kiss was perfect though, and I loved it. He even seemed happy afterwards.

Yet the first thought in my head was I am a mistake. I could not help the tears. I was crushed but after kissing him lightly, I realized he was thinking of Everly. That is why he had that damn smile forming on his face. I went from crushed to pissed in an instant. OH, I LOVE HIM AND I HATE HIM! If that is at all possible, I believe I just found a way.

I heard something crash. I had ran around the house and half way across the yard before I realized what it was. Allard had taken down a tree, and was now storming off into the woods. I crossed my arms over my chest. Well if he wants to act childish and just run away then he can go right ahead. I am not going to put up with it. I turned around to go back up to the house, but stopped and looked back at where I had last seen him. What if he gets hurt or something happens to him.

I just shook my head. That is ridiculous; what could possible hurt him especially so close to the estate? I started to turn once again to head back to the house when I caught movement at the edge of my vision. What is that? I slowly started making my way closer to the tree line. I counted four shadows moving deeper into the woods, before they all disappeared. I inhaled and instantly scrunched my face up at the smell. It took two seconds for me to register what was going on. Allard stormed off into the woods mad; so naturally he is not paying attention to anything around him. And he is being followed by at least four werewolves.

What do I do? There is no telling how many are out there. I should go back to the house and get help, but then I might be too late. He could be dead by then. The last thought is all it took for me to go racing into the woods. I will not let him die.

_Allard POV_

I did not stop until I made it to the clearing with the small lake. I walked half way to the water before letting go some of my anger and taking in a deep breath. I instantly tensed. The smell of wet dog was so thick in the area I am surprised I could not see it in the air. I could feel eyes on me from all directions.

I was not sure how well it would work but I pretended to relax. I hoped that they had not noticed me tense or maybe since I relaxed almost right after they would ignore it. I walked the rest of the way to the water and crouched down. I pretended to stare down into it. To anybody else it would seem I was deep in thought, but really I was projecting a message to my father.

"_**The lake in the woods behind the house. Werewolves, a lot of werewolves."**_

I had barely finished the message when I heard them running towards me. Though to bad for them I had picked this exact location by the water for a reason. I was on a small peninsula of sorts with sharp rocks on either side. They stretched a good ten feet and laid just below the surface of the murky water, invisible to the eye. Any of the ones that tried to surround me would end up tearing themselves up. Though I would still have to watch for them just in case; for the time I could concentrate on the ones coming from in front of me.

Two lunged at me from the front. They were easy to deal with as I kicked out at one and grabbed the other by the throat. He was easily tossed to the side after I crushed his neck. I caught movement just to my left. I could not help the smile that came across my face as the movement was met with the sudden yelps of the mongrels. They had met the razor sharp rocks below. They would now have trouble moving on shredded paws.

Soon I was caught up in the frenzy of the battle. Normal this would have been an easy task, but even my strength and speed was no match for the numbers at which they were coming at me. I realized my mistake too late. Caught up in the battle I had progressed forward and was now out of the protection offered by the peninsula. Before I could back track I was caught from behind and thrown to the ground.

I instantly rolled on to my back and threw my hands out to fend off what ever came at me. It was a smart move on my part as my hands instantly caught the slobbering jaws of a werewolf that had thought to take advantage of the situation. I started to smile at his stupidity, but it was short lived as he was not the only one that thought to take the opportunity. I could not help but yell out as one wretched beast sank his jaws into my left side, and another clawed out at my right tearing my arm up. For once I actually thought that this was the end.

Then there was a growl as something to my right lunged over me taking the werewolves with it. There was a quick skirmish that not even my eyes could keep up with as the blows were exchanged. It was over in what seemed like a matter of seconds. That is when I saw Seph slowly backing away from the bodies of the three werewolves. She had her arms held out to the side and ready to fight. She growled out her warning as she backed her way over to me.

The wolf beasts obviously were not expecting her to show up. After seeing her rip three of their own to shreds they seemed a bit reluctant to come at us. Though that did not last long as they grouped to our left. It seemed like they meant to charge forward. Seph crouched down and let out another throaty growl and I could not help the smirk that came on my face despite the situation. I tried to get up, but the pain tore through my body. Stupid werewolf injuries; they never heal fast. Something I had never figured out was why vampires could heal fast when injured by anything but werewolves.

As the pain tore through me again I made a vow to myself to figure out why the hell that was and find away to fix it. As I struggled to stand trying to bear the pain the damn beasts took notice. They apparently did not want to give me the chance as they started forward. I was about to tell Seph to leave when they stopped and started working there way back.

I looked to my right to see what could have stopped them, and I was met with the sight of the vampires of the estate, from the servants to my father. The sight of so many vampires growling and crouched ready for a fight was definitely an imposing one. Even I would have stopped and second-guessed my strategy. The beasts apparently thought the best strategy was tucking tail and running as they disappeared back into the woods.

Seph turned to me and crouched down to inspect my wounds. I growled at her as she pressed her fingers to the bite wound that took up almost the whole left side of my torso. Her eyes instantly met mine, "Sorry."

"Just help me get up."

"No, you need to lay there and not move. We do not know how extensive the damage. The bite on your side is our biggest worry right now. The damn mutt could have punctured something."

I tried hold back a smart remark as she called over some of the servants, "He needs to be carried back as gently as possible. Take him to his room. Lord Launceleyn is getting a doctor and they should be there by the time you all get there. If any of you cause his condition to worsen I will personally have your heads."

I tried not to laugh at the look on the servants faces. They were obviously afraid of her. Though my mirth at the situation was short lived. As I tried to hold back a laugh my muscles tensed and pain tore through me yet again. This turned the evil eye of Seph on me.

"Are you stupid? Quiet taking this situation so lightly. I cannot believe you stormed off like that. You could have been killed you know."

I gave her my cheesiest smile as I reached for her hand, "But you came for me."

She smacked my hand away and rolled her eyes as she turned to the servants, "Get him out of here before he bleeds out or says something even more stupid and I kill him."

After our last two weeks together that would have made her laugh. Apparently she still was not over our argument earlier. Great how do I fix this? I was not able to dwell on the thought very long before darkness consumed me.

I woke up some time later. It was dark in my room, but I could still see some one sitting in a chair by the bed. I had expected to wake up to Seph sitting by me, but to my disappointment it was my mother. She noticed I was awake and sat forward, but before she could begin going off on me for whatever reason now I spoke.

"Where is Seph?"

She stood and nodded to my other side, "Sephina would not rest until she knew you were alright. I thought she was going to kill the doctor. I-"

"Mother please leave us for a moment."

She looked between Seph, who was starting to open her eyes, and I before shaking her head and walking out the door. I tried to move closer to her, but her hand was instantly on my chest.

"What do you think you are doing? You will tear your wounds open. You better not move or I will kill you."

I started to laugh but instantly hissed in pain. "I wanted to talk to you about earlier." I spoke between clinched teeth.

She dropped her head and started getting off the bed, "There is nothing to say."

My temper rose, "Yes there is."

She shook her head and turned away, "No there is not and that is the end of it."

I growled, "No that is not the end of it. I will say when it is over."

She walked to the door before turning around and glaring at me, "You cannot always get what you want. You should stop acting like a child and grow up if you ever want to get your precious Everly." She practically spat it at me before walking out the door.

I tried to get off the bed to go after her, but the pain threw me back down on to the bed. I looked down to see blood seeping through the bandages around my torso. That damn woman is going to be the death of me.

* * *

_Sorry it took so long to get another chapter out. I am getting towards the end of the story but needed to build more of a relationship between Seph and Allard for use later. Which caused me to get a huge case of writers block. Plus I was really busy. Hopefully this chapter made up for that. Let me know what yall think please. It is very much appreciated. I would like to thank my reviewers as well._

**Peachie miss**

**Charliekat**

**ZOE - **it is in chapter 13 if you have not already looked for it

**Ummidia Q**

**Rocktheroxie**

**dawn vamp**

**Clarrisse**

**Shadowsofaflower**

**Xoxo beauty**

**Fanfanfan**

**Xcherryontopxx**

**458**

_I love you guys and yall are absolutely amazing. I love reading yall's reviews and I am sorry I did not give yall shout outs the last two chapters. I hope yall enjoyed this one and hopefully my next one will be up again soon. I am getting close to the end of the story, but it won't be ending too soon. I am thinking it will probably be around chapter 30 or so maybe. It will be sad to see it end, but I have also had another story messing with my mind. I thought about trying something with it, but I want to wait till this story is over. Once The End of Perfect has been finished I am gonna try and get the other story completely planned out and at least half of it typed up before I even attempt posting it. So that way maybe there won't be such huge delays in my updating process. If I do get this other story planned out and see that I can actually go some where with it; I will probably be posting it on Fiction press under my pen name emerald dreams cause it will be all original with out any borrowed characters so it wont be a fan fic and I don't think there is a category I could put it under that is as generic as vampires. But any ways I am gonna get blabbering and end this horribly long author's note. Again lots of love to all my amazing reviewers and awesome readers!_


	25. Chapter 25

_Drayton POV_

I almost killed her….and now she is gone.

I stood outside by the fountain. You could see the damage left behind from her impact. Cracks spread like spider webs through out the black marble with small pieces of the marble in the water around the statue. It almost seemed to fit right in with the statue. The winged vampire crying out his rage to the sky now looked like he was breaking under his rage. I cannot believe I threw her with so much force that it caused this.

How could I have done this to her? She did not deserve it no matter what she said.

I was stolen from my inner torture as birds flew across the sky singing their beautiful song. I looked around me taking it all in. The vibrant green hedges, the flowers blooming around the courtyard, the blue sky above dotted with small white clouds, and the warm sunshine all about. It was all in stark contrast with the dark emotion displayed by the fountain; that was reflected in me.

I felt like the day should have been portrayed with dead grass, wilting flowers, and the call of crows. The sky should be darkened by the storm clouds as it bellows its defiance, flashes its rage, and drowns all below with its tears.

No the day did not match the mood reflected in the fountain and myself, but it matched her. The sun was her hair; the vibrant green hedges resembled her eyes; and the birds' song…her voice. I had caught her singing once. Just as I passed the library I could hear a beautiful, melodic voice drifting through the door way. I leaned against the wall and listened. Though I never revealed to her what I had heard.

I punched the rim of the fountain and felt it shudder under the pressure. Feeling the after shock of the impact startled me. I never even realized that I had sat down during my contemplation. Ever since she left I was losing sight of all around me. I would just start walking while lost in my thoughts and when I would pull myself out of my inner chaos I would find myself in the library, her room, or out at the fountain. I once even found myself out in the car about to start the engine. I guess I was going to go to her, but she said she wanted to be left alone.

I knew she had been in danger, but Leila had been keeping an eye on her. It has been more than two weeks and nothing has happened. Other than the flowers Leila said had been arriving Allard had not made a move maybe he finally gave up or found another who he could obsess over. I could only hope it was such for her sake. She had not asked for any of this. Though bringing her here and into all of this is one thing I do not regret. Though we did not find out until after she came here, Allard was after her way before Leila, Kayd, and I got involved. I would like to think that how things turned out once we were all involved was safer for her; compared to how they might have been had we never met. Yet after all I did to her I can barely hold to that conviction.

"Well the good news is that you are not going crazy."

I jumped at the sound of Kayd's voice. I did not even hear him walk up. This inner contemplation is going to get me killed if I do not start paying attention to what is around me.

"Or maybe you are going crazy. What is going on?"

"It does not matter at the moment. What did you find out?"

He frowned and shook his head before continuing, "Well Miss Neranna Barlow does have sister. Sephina Barlow was born in 1878 exactly one year younger than Nera. She "died" a year after Nera. I am guessing from what she did and said to you, that she found a vampire to change her so that she could get revenge."

"I am assuming that since you said that was good news instead of just news that there is a downside to this. What is the bad news?"

"Well it took me so long to figure this out because someone went to great lengths to destroy all the information about her that they could. Someone did not want others to find out she exists. I believe that has something to do with the fact that she works for Elder Launceleyn, or not so much that she works for him but who that involves her with."

"So in other words Allard used her and played on her revenge to try and get me out of the way?"

"That is what it seems to add up to. I also found out that he was attacked two days ago."

"What, did she find out he was using her?"

"No it was werewolves. They do not know the exact reasons why yet, but if it was not for Sephina he would be dead right now. He was messed up really bad."

I could not help a small smile at that news; after all I hated the guy. "Do you think it might have something to do with the werewolf he killed? The one that was at Everly's house?"

He was frowning even before I finished the question, "No it does not add up. Others will probably see it that way but it just does not seem right. If they were trying to avenge a fallen brother they would not have waited so long and would not have attacked in such great numbers. Apparently almost the whole tribe attacked him. If they just wanted revenge their code says that only the closest related brethren to the deceased can exact revenge. They cannot afford to lose most of the tribe, especially the females. Their numbers are dwindling."

I dropped my head and shook it, "Well part of the mystery is solved in the case of Sephina. I am assuming that you think this attack on Allard has something to do with our mystery friend? Have you found anything out about Him?"

He shook his head, "No I have not been able to find out anything. I really do not have a lot to go off of so my leads are almost non existent. However, Yes I do believe that this werewolf attack on Allard was orchestrated by this other person. I believe it has to do with the fact that Allard is after Everly; as it seems that this other person wants her as well. For why he wants Everly is another one of the mysteries I am trying to solve."

I could not help it; the frustration was just too much. I punched the fountain rim again. This time it cracked under the pressure. Kayd frowned at me, "You have to go see her."

I shook my head as I stood up and just walked away.

"Drayton, you need to go talk to her. You two need to straighten things out."

I stopped right before turning the corner, "What is there to straighten out? As Leila says it, Everly has moved on with her life. She seems to be getting on fine with out me involved." Then I turned the corner and did not look back. Though I knew he was right, I just did not want to go through with it. Call me a coward, but I am actually scared of what the outcome would be if I went to her.

I went into the house and up the stairs to my room. I could not help but falter as I glanced down to her closed bedroom door. How many times had I been in this same situation of entering my room as she was coming out of her room, or leaving mine as she entered her room? I am not sure of the number but it is high enough that at this very moment , even knowing that she is gone, I actually expect to see that dark wooden door open and her step out into the hall way. Her light hair, light skin, and bright eyes a stark contrast to the dark toned hallway.

I shook the thoughts from my head and entered my room. I walked straight to my bed and lay out across it. It was just past noon and already I was tired. Constantly losing myself in my complicated thoughts and inner turmoil was taking its toll on me. In mere seconds of closing my eyes I was fast asleep. It was a deep sleep with no dreams to bother me. Since she left I was always dreaming of her in trouble. I would wake up ready to save her, but then I would remind my self that she was fine. It was just a nightmare, Leila was watching over her.

I do not know how long I slept, but I woke with a start when Kayd burst into the room.

"What is-?"

"It's Leila! You have to help me!"

I was out of bed in an instant. The first thought in my head was that something had finally happened to Everly. Kayd must have got a call from Leila. Then the last thing he said dawned on me as I took in his panicked face. He was usually calm even when something happened. I reached a hand out to him hoping to calm him as I figured out what happened.

"Kayd what hap-"

"He…they…someone has her! I do not know who they are or how many there are! All I know is that she is gone! Please you have to help me! Please just help….."

His voice broke off at the end as his rant died down to a whisper. I was looking at a broken man.

"Kayd you need to calm down. Panicking like this is not going to help Leila any."

He snarled at me, "Don't you think I know that! I am not panicking! I…..It was Allard that bastard has her!"

I grabbed his arm just as he turned to race out of the room. I am assuming to go kill Allard. "Kayd listen to your self! You say that you are not panicking but that is not what I am seeing and hearing. Allard cannot have her. You said yourself that he was on the brink of death two days ago from wounds inflicted by werewolves. He would not have healed enough from those yet to even be able to get out of bed. Calm down and think about this for a second."

He took a shuddered breath before nodding his head and turning back to face me, "You are right; none of this helps her. She just called to check in and talk and she was cut off mid sentence. I heard her scream and the phone went dead."

"You do not have to explain yourself to me. Your actions are completely understandable right now but just like you said that is not what is going to help her. Now think about it Kayd, even if you have to think of it as someone else missing to keep calm, then do it. What would be your first step with what we already know?"

He took another deep breath and started pacing the room, "Alright…..Well our first suspect is out, unless he hired someone else. However that seems unlikely as Allard likes doing the work himself unless in the case of Sephina. Allard would not have been able to accomplish tricking you without her. He could have hired someone else since he is hurt, but he is not in a rush. He would just take his time to heal and do it himself so that he could make sure it was done right. That leaves our mystery person." He started pacing the room faster as he was getting worked up again, "I have no leads here. I do not know what to do. What do I do Drayton?"

"Kayd calm down. You can not expect to have all the answers. We will work through this together. I am not going to abandon you on this, you are my brother and though it may seem I don't like Leila with as much as we fight, I still consider her a sister and care for her. We need to go to Everly's house. That was the last known location of Leila; maybe we can find some clues. We will figure this out and you will get her back. I can promise you that, but you need to promise me you will stay calm. We cannot do this if you are not calm Kayd. That is your strength. You remain calm, keep your head, and form a plan. That is the one thing that is going to help us right now."

"Alright I promise to try and keep calm. Can we please just get to Everly's house as soon as possible?"

I nodded my head and walked out the door. No matter how great my fear of seeing Everly it is nothing compared to what my brother is going through or will end up going through if we do not find Leila. I know what it is like and I know what he will go through if we do not find her. I could not help the image of Nera that came in to my mind, yet it was just a brief image that was quickly replaced with Everly. If it is with in my power to keep Kayd from going through that then I will walk through hell to make it so. I will protect him from that never ending abyss of pain and depression. No matter what I may have to do or give up.

* * *

_And there is chapter 25. I hope yall enjoyed. I feel like it started out really good but kind of lost its luster part way through. However I credit the amazing beginning to R.A. Salvatore. I just got done reading his two latest books and they influenced my writing. I think I did good timing on the update. It has been just a little over a week. I do wish it could be sooner, but my mind is still going through possibilities for that other story and I am trying to get caught up on my reading. Every time I turn around some one is giving me a book to read. I bought the book A game of thrones a month ago and still have not got to read it. I still have to read through the girl with a dragon tattoo trilogy that my sister gave me and a book about an assassin that my cousin gave me. It is quite frustrating but good reads. Any ways now that I am done with my random babbling for the chapter let me know what yall think! : ) Review please! Also lots of love and thanks to my awesome readers and even more awesome and amazing reviewers! ; )_

_**rocktheroxie**_

_**dawnvamp**_

_**MusicMeg**_

_**Clarrisse**_

_**xoxo Beauty**_


	26. Chapter 26

_Everly POV_

It all felt amazing. The wind blowing in my hair, the power and strength I could feel beneath me, and the bright colors of the day. I had never enjoyed riding my horse Lil more than I did now with my newfound peace and perspective on my life. I had urged Lil into a gallop as we headed down to the creek that ran behind the stables. As we got close I had her slow down in the small clearing we had entered. The creek was about thirty yards away when I had Lil stop. I got off and took her reins as I led her down to the creek for a drink. The whole walk she would nudge my shoulder and occasionally whinny at me. I finally stopped and stared into her eyes. She stepped forward and brought her head towards me.

I thought she was going to lay her head across my shoulder as a sign of affection. I could not help but smile, "I missed you too gi-Hey!" She had instead started biting at my shirt pocket. She knew I had sugar cubes in there. I lightly smacked her neck and gave her my best fake scowl, but I could not hold it. I ended up with my arms around her neck and laughing. I dug out two sugar cubes and held them out for her. Then I used my most commanding tone and told her no more until we got down to the creek and she had a nice drink of water.

Once at the creek I let go of her reins and she walked up to the water for a drink. I stayed back and took in my surroundings. The sky was a brilliant blue with white clouds here and there. I could here the songs of the birds broken now and then by the chattering of squirrels that lived in the densely treed area on the other side of the creek. The clearing back behind me was full of lush, green grass and wild flowers. I took a deep breath of the spring air and lay down on the ground. This was the life.

I felt renewed, born again. I had been a completely different person in my life before in Tennessee. With my father's death I played the part of a coward and ran away from all that had made me, me. Though I would never go back to my old name, as it just did not seem to fit or belong to me anymore, I was once again Beverly, the strong, independent, yet fun loving girl who could take care of herself. The girl who could take over and handle almost any situation thrown at her. The girl who acted like a girl her age that went out with friends to clubs, movies, and had girls' night with all the girl talk. I was that girl again.

I was no longer the girl who ran away and shut herself off from the world she once knew physically and emotionally. I was no longer the girl that kept herself so guarded from all around her that she failed to take the chances in life to truly experience adventures such as sky diving. Even just, hang out with friends that would shape who she turned out to be while engraving memories in her that she would take with her to hold and cherish.

I actually believe that it was my fault, for the most part, for the things that happened with Brent and Jenny. I had kept myself guarded for so long that when I finally decided to let at least the two of them into my life I had lost all knowledge of reading people. I was never the one to date around a lot or have many friends but I had my share of boyfriends and I had five friends that were the girls I held close and had become my sisters. During that time, I had a talent for reading people. My friends had always joked around saying that I must be able to read people's minds because of how well I was able to pick out the people that were, rotten, so to speak.

It hurt thinking back on my memories of Tennessee. They had all tried to be there for me after my father died but I pushed them away. Even after I moved they would occasionally try to contact me, but I would always ignore the calls or the messages. Then one day there were no calls or messages, a day turned into a week, then a week turned into a month. I still do not fully understand why I shut them out of my life like that. Maybe it was because I knew that they were as outspoken as I was, and though I had denied it myself and covered it with reassuring lies, I know that they would have called me out for running away from everything.

Yet no matter how much I dwelled on the idea of what life would have been like if I had not pushed them away, I now know that no matter what I would have ended up in England, but that I could have chose differently how to lead my life once I was here. It was because of that choice of seclusion that people like Brent and Jenny had found their way into my life.

I had grown so much emotionally during my time with Drayton, Kayd, and Leila. It must have seen so crazy and abrupt to them when I decided to leave, mostly due to the timing of that decision. I would be a liar if I said that my decision had nothing to do with Drayton attacking me. In all actuality, though I had thought on it for a while, Drayton's attack is what closed the deal so to speak. Yet it was not that the attacked scared me or made my angry at him. It was in fact what the near death trauma made me realize the truth about my life. I thought about what got me into that situation. Not just the words that started it, but everything that led up to it.

I had an epiphany and it showed me that I was not me anymore. The strong willed, determined woman who would do all she could to make sure she was never a burden to anyone, that would try to handle everything she could on her own yet knew her limits. The woman that her mother and father had raised was gone. I had allowed too many out side forces to take control of who I was and how I saw life. Instead of moving on, looking towards the future and what happiness it had in store, I had embraced sorrow, regret, and depression.

I had thought that since I moved to England, and started up a boring daily routine where I would not be subjected to anything new and unknown, that my life had been perfect. The last two years here were perfection to me. I had embraced that lie and clung to it greedily and selfishly, never letting that notion go for it was the only hope I saw for myself. I had even considered all that had happened since my birthday to be the insidious thing that had ended my perfect life.

I now realize that on that day when everything changed I had actually taken a step forward in life, not backwards. For how could those two years of locking my self up in that cocoon of what I thought was life even come close to the perfection of the events that showed me the mistakes I had made. That showed me the lie I was living. That day was not my end of perfect, but the beginning of finding perfect. For I now realize what a foolish dream "perfect" life was, it is never perfect. Life will always have its ups, downs, snags, bumps, loops and sometimes even a complete turn a round. It is what you make of it that keeps you close to that area of perfection. If you allow yourself to embrace the chaos and wallow in it then it will consume you and falsify all around you. Yet if you can embrace it and then let it go to move on so that you learn from the mistakes and make yourself a better person then you will truly have peace and that is closest we could ever come to perfect.

I had come face to face with my mistakes and the consequences and it all showed me what I had become. I know that I am in danger. I know that not only is Allard after me, but some other unknown is out there as well. I understand that it may very well be something that I cannot handle on my own, but I will not allow others to take on this burden. That is what I had been doing since my birthday, and if I allowed it to continue any longer, even for this situation, when would it stop? When would I stop making others share or even completely take over my burdens? I may not be able to make it through this, and if I do not I will at least know that I am me again, and that I at least will not succumb to this burden while living that fake life. I was finally as close to being at peace with all around me, as I probably ever would be again. I was close to perfect.

I closed my eyes and thought back just over two weeks ago. When I had first got home I had spent the first two days cleaning up the mess from the werewolf Allard had killed. Once I was satisfied that all was back to normal I got on with my life. I would relax on the porch swing with a book, or take Lil out for a ride. I remember on the third day that I had opened my front door and say the bouquet of flowers lying on the porch with a card. My heart instantly fluttered as I had thought of Drayton.

Yes, I had said that I wanted to go home and stay there by myself. I know that I needed at least a day or two to myself, but I had honestly hoped that Drayton would have come after me. Then seeing those flowers gave me hope. I could not help the huge smile on my face as I had picked up the bouquet of pink roses mixed with white calla lilies. I had quickly grabbed the card to see what it said.

_To my most graceful beauty,_

_I am deeply sorry for all I have done to you. You never deserved to be put through this. Though I send this as my token of regret for all things done and ask for your forgiveness, I in no way expect you to forgive me. Though I have seen the error of my ways, I do not have it in me to forgive even myself. Knowing that, how can I even ask for your forgiveness? Just know that I love you and will always wait for you if you can ever find it in yourself to forgive me and let me back into your life._

I had felt like I was going to cry, until I read the name signed on the card.

_With all my love, regret, and sorrow,_

_Allard Launceleyn_

The smile instantly fell from my face and my eyes hardened. The nerve of that man! He is surely mistaken if he thinks I am going to believe this load of crap! I instantly threw the flowers out into the yard. Then I took my anger out on the card as I tore it up and threw it away. As I turned and walked back in to my house, I could feel myself shaking from my anger.

Every few days that followed had gorgeous bouquets on my porch with another card. I would read the card to see what lies he was saying this time, usually laugh, then tear up the card; the pieces would then follow the path of the first card into the garbage, as well as the flowers that I would either throw or kick out in to the yard.

Thinking back on it I could feel my anger rising again. I was brought out of my revere as a familiar sensation ran through my body. I sat up and looked around expecting to see Drayton, but all I could see was Lil. I sighed and shook my head as I headed over to Lil, ready to get her back to stables and go home.

Once I pulled into the driveway, I felt the sensation again. What is going on with me? Do I really just like him that much or am I going crazy? My mind started going in circles as I headed into the house. I had only made it through the front door, stopping long enough to kick the most recent bouquet off the porch, and I already had a headache. Ugh, I hate this! I decided a nice long hot shower would help.

I walked up stairs and went straight for my bathroom. I turned on the hot water, undressed, and stepped into the stinging water. I do not know how long I stayed in there, all I know is that my feet and fingers were all wrinkled up but at least I had calmed down my thoughts. I threw on a green tank top and some black pajama pants, and then brushed out my hair. Once done I glanced at the clock, it was only two in the afternoon and I was exhausted. I headed down stairs and popped in a movie. I lay down on the couch and only made it about five minutes into the movie before I was asleep.

I suddenly was awake and sat up fast. The movement caused my vision to close in and my head to spin. I sat there with my head in my hands waiting for the feeling to pass. What had waked me up? I glanced at the clock; it showed that is was almost six. I cannot believe I slept that long. Then I felt the sensation again and I realized that was what woke me. If this does not stop, I am going to go insane. Why was it starting now anyways? I had been home over two weeks and did not have any problems.

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

I nearly hit the ceiling I jumped so high. I sat back on the couch with my hand on my chest feeling my racing heartbeat. Someone had knocked on the door and it scared me. I almost started to laugh at myself until they knocked again, and though I could not make out the words I could tell, it was a heated conversation. What in the world, were people doing on my porch arguing and scaring me?

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

I shook my head and went for the door. I had just turned the handle and started pulling the door open when another jolt hit me. It was not painfully but it was stronger then the others and unexpected. I heard a grunt on the other side of the door. I ended up with my knees giving out and dropping to the floor from the intensity. I sat there dumbstruck with the tingling feeling rushing through me.

I looked up as the door swung open. My mouth dropped as I saw Drayton and a crazy looking Kayd standing on my porch. As soon as my eye contact with Drayton I could not help my smile even as the tingling that had died down some grew strong again. I then tried to look past them for Leila. When I did not see her, I looked to Kayd and took in his appearance. His hair was a mess, it stuck up here and there, as if he had run his hands through it a lot. He was fidgeting and when I looked at his eyes, I could see the desperation in them.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I instantly knew something had happened to Leila. I shakily stood up and leaned against the wall for support. My strength had left me again but for a completely different reason. I could feel my knees shaking more and more, threatening to give out as I tried to form the words to a question I was not sure I wanted to ask.

My voice shook, as I looked straight at Kayd, "What happened to her?"

His voice broke as he said, "Someone took her."

The sound of his broken voice and the words that were like a punch in the gut was all it took for the tears to spill over and my knees start to give. Drayton quickly walked to me and wrapped his arms around in emotional and physical support. I cried, as for the second time that day my thoughts went into a whirlwind. Why would some one take her? Who could it have been? Is she still alive or are we already too late? Will there be a ransom demand? Did Allard do this? My pain was consumed by rage as I let out a long low growl. Drayton instantly stepped back and held me at arms length.

"Allard!" I snarled.

"No, it was not Allard," Shock registered on my face as I turned to Kayd, "We already researched that lead. He was our first suspect and we had already been keeping an eye on him anyway. Werewolves attacked Allard a few days ago and it almost put him on his deathbed. A vampire's fast healing does not work with werewolf-inflicted wounds so he will be bed ridden for a few days more. We all know his ego and temper as well, so we know that if he was the one in charge of this he would have done it himself so as to make sure it was done right. He cannot afford any screw-ups. We even checked around here for any sign of what happened and found no clues linking to him, but there was another here."

My mind raced as I took it all in, "So if it was not Allard then who was-Wait a minute. Did you say yall checked here? Was Leila here when she was taking and why?"

"We knew you wanted to be by yourself, but none of us could bear it if something happened to you so Leila as been watching you. She was on the phone with me, checking in, when who ever it was took her."

I did not even care, at the moment, that they had been watching me. My mind was instead thinking back to last night. I had fallen asleep with the television on. I woke up when I heard a scream and had instantly looked around me until my eyes settled on the television, and that is when I saw there was a horror movie on. I had assumed the scream had come from the television, so I shut it off and went up to bed. Yet it had been Leila not the movie, oh my god. I started shaking again and Drayton lent me his arm for support.

"Oh my god…..oh my god…." my voice was barely above a whisper and my eyes were filling with fresh tears. I looked up at Kayd, "I heard her scream. I was asleep and it woke me up. I heard it and thought it was just the movie on the television. Oh my god, if I had known she was out there I could have done something. I could have helped her. I cannot believe I heard her scream and I just went up to bed." My voice was breaking as I choked back tears.

Drayton patted my back as he spoke, "No if anything you would have died or been taken as well. We think the person who took her is the same one that is after you. We just do not know who that is exactly."

New tears burst forth, "She was taken because of me? Oh, my god Kayd I am so sorry. I wish I had never got involved with yall. Then yall would not be in this situation right now. This is my entire fault."

Kayd had instantly started shaking his head no and Drayton shook me to stop my babbling, "Do not say that. None of us wishes that we had never met you and that includes Leila. If she had heard you say that just now she would have gone off on you."

At those words, I instantly stopped thinking about how it was my fault and focused on her. They both looked at each other when they noticed my sudden change in demeanor. Though I had new determination and was tremendously angry, I could not help the fear that was creeping in and causing my hands to shake. When they looked back to me, I had started walking out the door, "Let's go get this bastard."

I had made it off the porch when I realized they were not following me. As I turned back around Kayd spoke, "How? We do not know who he is?" I could hear the pain in his voice. Seeing and hearing his torture reinforced my determination.

"What we do know is that he is after me. I will be the bait."

* * *

_This chapter took me longer than I wanted it to take. I would start typing and get the first few sentences and my motivation would disappear and I would have no idea what to write, or want to write. Though I am not sure why. I forced myself to sit down and start typing and refused to let it up till I got over this issue and low and behold I got an over 3600 word chapter here for yall. I hope that this will not happen again. Seeing as how the story is concluding. Once I am done with this, I am going to go through and revise it. I will be changing up the story in the first few chapters just a bit. Nothing that will out rightly change the out come of the story, but for example I feel, and it has also been pointed out to me, that the whole Brent and Jenny restaurant scene was a little much and looked like I was trying to hard with them. There will still be a scene with them, and maybe I will still have a restaurant scene but they will be separate from each other. I hope yall like this chapter please let me know what yall think. I accept all reviews, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the anonymous : ) Here is an awesome thanks to all my Fan Fiction, Fiction Press, and Quizilla readers and my amazing reviewers!_

**Born in the Stars**

**ShadowsofaFlower**

**LovestoryBeauty**

**Cattie13**

_I have 88 reviews and my story has almost 10,000 hits on Fan Fiction! That is crazy! Only 12 more reviews and I will have 100 ahhhh! I find that so awesome! All my reviewers are amazing, and I hope that all my readers enjoy my story enough to review it or give __**constructive**__ criticism. I am hoping to have 100 reviews or more by the time, my story is over. : D_


	27. Chapter 27

_Sorry it took so long to get this out. I did not fully think through the ending to the last chapter so I hit a huge wall of big fat writers block. Plus I was gone on vacation for a bit too. But after talking it out with my cousin and mom I think I found a way around my mess up with out having to change the story. But I am not completely sure so we will see how it works out. Yes this chapter is kind of forced so please let me know what yall think about it and if it turns out completely awful I will rewrite it and try and make it better. Again I am so sorry it has taken this long._

* * *

_Drayton POV_

My first instinct was to yell, no. How could she even consider that a good idea? I was not going to let her use herself as bait and that could possibly get her killed. I wanted to enforce my defiance to the entire idea and was just about to open my mouth when I looked at Kayd. Again taking in the broken shadow of a man that was my brother, and my promise came to the forefront of my mind, "I will protect him from that never ending abyss of pain and depression, no matter what I may have to do or give up."

No matter how much pain I may have to go through, if this is the only way to get Leila back we will do it. So instead of voicing my feelings I kept my mouth shut and waited to hear the rest of the plan.

"We cannot do that."

Kayd's words shocked me. I figured he would jump on this. It was a plan to get Leila back why was he turning it down? Apparently Everly had the same thought but the surprise on her face was quickly followed with frustration.

"And why can we not do that?"

Kayd threw his hands up in the air, "We do not even know where to go. What situation do we put you in and where?"

The word came out before I even fully comprehended what it was I was saying, "Werewolves."

Kayd's head shot towards me, "Drayton you are a genius." I finally saw some of Kayd's old personality come back with this sliver of hope.

"Would anyone like to explain to me what the werewolves have to do with any of this?"

It was obvious Kayd was lost in thought, no doubt coming up with a plan, so it was up to me to relate what we thought happened with Allard, "We think that who ever this other person is that wants you is the person who hired the werewolves to kill Allard. It cannot be because of the one he killed here because if they were trying to avenge a fallen brother they would not have waited so long and would not have attacked in such great numbers. Apparently almost the whole tribe attacked him. If they just wanted revenge their code says that only the closest related brethren to the deceased can exact revenge. They cannot afford to lose most of the tribe, especially the females, since their numbers are dwindling. So the only explanation we can come up with is that they were hired."

"But why would the person that is after me send an entire tribe of werewolves after Allard?"

"I think it is because Allard is after you as well. This means he is in the way and likely knows too much about the situation. So he would have to be eliminated."

Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes grew wide, "It is because he knows I am a Mynx. That guy told me that my mere existence could ruin him. If that is why Allard must be eliminated then that means Leila could already be…and then Kayd, and you…."

I could see the tears forming in her eyes. I took her in my arms not allowing the shock of her realization to take hold on me. She was right though, and how could we have not seen it. I looked to Kayd to see if he heard what she had said but he was still deep in thought and for that I was grateful. He would eventually come to this realization on his own, but I would not be the one to tell him. As far as we know Leila is still alive and I am going to let him hold on to that hope. I took Everly's face in my hands and turned her to look up at me.

"We do not know what has happened to her and until we are told otherwise we are going to assume that she is alive. Do not speak of this to Kayd."

"But he needs to-"

"No, he does not. You see the turmoil he is in. He could not even think straight until we mentioned that a rescue of some kind was possible. That idea gave him hope and helped straighten his thoughts. He needs that to make it through this. What ever you do just please do not take that hope from him."

She gave me a small smile after looking over at Kayd, "Alright I will not say anything."

Then her words dawned on me, "Wait a minute, you said "that guy" told you. So you know that it is a guy doing all of this and he talked to you?"

"Yes, when I was in that comatose state with the Mynx he was there. He told me that I would not leave the coma. That my very presence can ruin him and that I will not be allowed to ruin all that he has achieved. Though just knowing that it is a man does not really help."

"No but it is a start."

We both jumped at the sound of Kayd's voice. I thought he was still lost in thought. I wonder how much he was actually paying attention too.

"I think I have a plan. If this man is controlling the werewolves then we go and find the werewolves. Maybe we can appeal to them and get them on our side. Then we can strike a deal with them."

He's plan made since except for one part, "What do we have to make a deal with?"

Everly spoke up, "We will just have to hope that getting out from under his command will be enough," she held her hand up and jingled her car keys, "Now where do we find these wolves?"

* * *

_Allard POV_

I was almost completely recovered. Though I still could not move too fast or lean to my right very well, which was quite frustrating. Yet I could not stand it any longer. It was time to take some sort of action.

During my recovery I had done a lot of recapping on what happened with the werewolves. It did not make much since, as the only reason I could come up with for the attack was that I had killed one of them at Everly's house, but their code goes against a full attack. It was not until the night before when Drayton's words came back to me.

There was someone else after Everly. If that was true than that means that I am competition. Thus they would want me out of the way. When I made the realization I called in Seph to get her view on it and hopefully mend things between us. This did not go well. She is still horribly mad at me for what ever it is I did, insufferable woman, though we did come up with an idea. The only way we know to get to this person is by getting to the werewolves. We will get one of them alone and get the information we need from him.

I headed down the stairs and out the front door. I was met with the beautiful sight of Seph before me. Her beauty was not even marred by the pissed look that was always on her face now. I gave her my best smile but she just turned away from me saying, "Let's get this over with."

That was it, the last straw. I moved forward and grabbed her arm spinning her around into my chest. I took her face in my hands and forced her to look up at me.

"Damn it woman. You drive me insane."

With that said I molded her lips to mine in a passionate kiss. After we parted I rested my forehead on hers and stared down into her ice green eyes.

"I do not know what I did wrong. What ever it was I am sorry but this has to stop. It is clouding my mind and I should be concentrating on our plan for the wolves and not why you are mad at me. What ever I have to do to make you happy I will do it just tell me what to do."

She leaned in and softly kissed me then backed away with a small smile on her face, "We need to go."

* * *

_Drayton POV_

Instead of having to search for the wolves, Kayd pulled some strings to get their location and saved us some time. Now we were all headed through the woods, Everly in front followed by Kayd just behind her and to the left and me to the right. Everly's original plan was to go in alone with us trailing behind, but we knew that they would be able to smell us and it would not work. So we all headed in together and hoped that it all went well. Let's just say I was not booming with confidence.

It was the middle of the night and from the smell in the air we were getting close. I looked at Kayd and could feel the desperate determination surrounding him. This was all he had to go on and if this did not work we would not have any other way to Leila.

I then looked forward to Everly. She was breath taking in the moonlight. You could see the confidence rolling off of her. I do not know how she was so sure this was going to work but her amount of confidence definitely made up for my lack of it. The thought that she could be gone soon hurt, but my brother will not go through that pain.

A shadowed form jumped down in front of us causing Everly to come to sudden stop. I felt something behind us and turned around to see Allard walking up, "What are you three doing here, and where is your spitfire of a lady, Kayd?"

Everly spoke up, "She was taken, and we are looking for the werewolves. What are you and who ever this is doing out here?"

I turned to see someone who looked almost exactly like Nera standing before Everly, Sephina. She had a look of pure hate on her face when looking at Everly. I went and stood beside Everly just in case this was a trap or Sephina decided to vent her hate for Everly. Though all this resulted in was her turning that look on me as she spat at my feet and crossed her arms over her chest. This caused Allard to laugh.

"This lovely lady before you all is Sephina Barlow; I would not get to close Drayton. We are also seeking out the werewolves. I need some information from them. You honestly think they took your fiancé?"

Everly glared at him and tensed up, "No we do not think it was them, but who ever it is they are working for is likely?

A large smile lit up Allard's face, "Well, well it looks like we are on the same side…for now. Seeing as how I was coming to get information on the same person."

Kayd spoke up, "Well it looks like here is our chance."

We all turned to see where he was looking and could barely make out the silhouetted forms. I do not know how long we stood there just looking at each other, but one of the wolf tribe's men stepped forward, "What do you want here?"

Everly quickly stepped forward, "We know that your tribe as been working for a man and we want to know who and how to get to him so that we can get rid of him. In return his elimination will stop what ever control he has over your tribe."

He started laughing, "You honestly think you can take him down. All you are doing is making our job easier."

As soon as the last word left his mouth the ones that had transformed rushed us. I saw the first one coming at me and easily stepped out of harms way but I did not see the second one as it jumped on my back. I quickly reached behind me, grabbing two fists full of hair, and threw it over my head. I looked to see Kayd holding his own against the wolves, but how long would it last.

One of the wolves lunged forward aiming to take a chunk out of my arm. I stepped out wide so that he would have ended up just flying past if not for the fact that I planted my foot in his ribs sending him into two of his brethren. I looked to see Allard was not faring well. He was still able to mostly hold his own but he obviously was not fully healed, and the wolves knew it. They would have taken full advantage of the situation if it was not for the fury of Sephina. She was tearing them to pieces.

I only got one quick glance at Everly before I was attacked by two wolves, but it was all I needed to know she was alright. She was on the back of a wolf that was fallen to the ground from a broken neck as she swiped a clawed hand out to deter the path of another wolf who thought her distracted. I would not have to worry about her for the time being. Yet, now I needed to worry about myself.

* * *

_Allard POV_

I was not ready for them to full out attack us. I was hoping to sneak in and kidnap one of them. I was not healed enough for this and they knew it. I was never more thankful for my beautiful protector. We realized that though I could not move in certain ways, I could support her weight. This resulted in our fighting becoming more of a deadly dance. Though we were taking care of some of the wolves many more were coming in at us. Though I did not lose faith, I knew that we would make it through this no matter how many wolves they sent at us.

Then they charged at Seph and me all at once. Maybe I was wrong and we were not going to make it out of this. Yet something surprising happened, Drayton, Kayd, and Everly came to our aid. Apparently the wolves did not think we would work together in this, and that was a huge mistake. I do not know how many of them were killed when their leader called them back. We all stood there tensed and ready for any other attack when he spoke out.

"Enough of this, I will not lose any more of my brethren for this idiotic vampire power struggle. If you are still willing, we will take your offer. Though as protection for my people I will not give you the information you seek. Yet I will take you to him as my fake prisoners and you all can settle this matter your selves, without harm coming to my people."

Seph's eyes narrowed, "How can we be sure you are not setting us up."

Kayd stepped forward, "We don't know, but it is all we have."

* * *

_I would like to thank you all for reading this and sticking with me even though it take me forever to update at times, and for that I am so sorry. To all my reviewers you are amazing and thank you!_

_**Clarrisse**_

_**LovestoryBeauty**_

_**EvaCJM**_

_**Freak Of Music**_

_**Laurenexplorin**_

_**Born In The Stars**_

_**Aubmay97**_

_Again thank you all for reading. There are probably only about two more chapters left in this story, though I am not 100% sure just depends on how fast this ending moves. I am sad to see it coming to an end but I am also excited cause then I can start on this other story I have been brain storming on. I hope yall enjoyed this chapter and that it did not seem too forced._


	28. Chapter 28

_All right, I know that this took way to long and many of you probably gave up on me, but the chapter is finally here. The delay is pretty much summed up to lack of motivation and writers block. Though moving and no computer access for a while played a hand as well. I am so sorry that it took as long as it did and though I know it probably does not even come close to making up for it, I tried to make this one of my best chapters and extra long for yall. I hope yall can enjoy this and can forgive me. Thank you to all my reviewers from the last chapter as well. I am sorry but I want to get this up as soon as possible so I will have to add personal shout outs to the next chapter._

_Everly POV_

The plan was to take us in as "prisoners" and then we would "break out" so that if we failed then the wolves would not have to face punishment. We could not blame them for looking out for their own, but apparently, on the way to the dungeon they were going to "hold" us in they thought over who would have the best outcome in our battle. They did not put much faith in us and concluded that no matter what we would lose and their master would win.

Those bastards betrayed us, and now all five of us are chained to the wall in a circular cell. We could barely make out each other, as our only source of light was a small rectangular window only two inches wide and about thirty feet above us. We all sat in about an inch of water with our hands chained behind us. We sat in a circle Kayd was to the left of the door; from there it was myself, Allard, Sephina, and then Drayton. We were not able to fight off the chill of night and so we rarely got sleep as the night was filled with the sound of rattling chains as our bodies shivered.

I had four long cuts along my left leg from our fight with the werewolves, and in our conditions, I knew it was going to be infected. We had been in the cell for two days when I started to feel the pain and burning shoot through my leg. By the next day I was breaking out in fever, cold sweats, and could barely make out an intelligible sentence. This was going to be the death of me.

Kayd had withdrawn into himself. He would refuse to look at anybody. I could only hope that in his silence he was forming some sort of plan though I knew that it was false hope. He was no longer the cool and calm strategist. He was a depressed and desperate man who had lost his reason for living. He had given up all hope.

Sephina was not much for conversation either as she seemed not to do anything but ignore Kayd and send death glares at Drayton and me. She even seemed to be ignoring Allard's existence all together no matter how much he tried to talk to her. However, on the occasion that she would see Allard looking at me she would send the most murderous look his way it would give me chills. Then she would just hang her head in silence. More than once, I thought I could make out a tear or two falling from her downcast face. She had feelings for Allard, and it was obvious to all in the room but apparently him.

Drayton preoccupied himself with monitoring my condition as best as he could and ignoring Allard and Sephina. If he was coming up with any way to get us out of this situation, I could not tell. When we had first been locked up he tried more than once to break from the chains to get us out but it was no use. Now if he tried to break from them it was to try to kill Allard for antagonizing him.

Allard at first spent his time taking out his anger on the chains that were holding him to no avail. Then he tried to come up with plans to get us out. This in my condition and Kayd and Sephina's silence was only met with Drayton picking apart all the flaws and throwing the idiocy of the plan back at him. Now it seemed he had given up the hope of an escape and spent his time trying to get through to Sephina or throwing insults at Drayton for entertainment. He would throw remarks at Kayd ever so often trying to break him from his silence but it never worked.

As I went back and forth between being lucid and hallucinating so did my attitude towards the situation. My temper would flare and all it took was one look from Sephina and I would find myself hurling insult after insult at her from comments on her sister to Allard. Then I would violently throw myself around trying to break through my chains to reach her, with the clear intentions of tearing her throat out. She would accept my challenge, most of the time, and try to break from her chains as well. If we had managed to break free, I am sure no one in that room would have survived. With Allard sitting to my right I would try to attack him with my legs and so often would land a good blow, which would end in another confrontation with Sephina.

We had been through this so many times that everyone in the room knew when our war was about to break out again. For the most part, she had started ignoring me until I would hit a sensitive spot with a cruel insult, usually about her sister. On our last confrontation, Drayton had come to her defense when I had said something about Nera. My entire hallucinating being felt betrayed by him and now had branded him a traitor. He was spared no expense in my rage. When I was lucid, I would spend most of my time in silence trying to find us a way out of this. So far, I had no luck.

I felt a chill through my body that was replaced by the feeling of on coming heat. I was about to lose it again. I hung my head in exhaustion as I felt the rage build up. Why do Mynx have to be so moody? I hate this. When I lifted my head back up Sephina and Drayton were already looking at me. I tried to spit at him as I cussed him and threw out an insult, "What are you looking at you murderous man whore? Thank god I am not near you or in your "love" for me you might tear me to shreds just as you did to Nera. That is what you did right? You loved her and then massacred her."

I saw the anger light up in his eyes but he just hung his head in silence as I continued my assault, "It was because she was not good enough for you wasn't it? She was just a stupid, power hungry whore. Where did that get her? Gleefully tore up into little shreds by her own lover."

Everyone could hear the strain on the chains as Sephina tried with all her might to throw herself at me, "I will kill you Bitch!"

This fed my anger as I tried to reach her as well, "You are no better than her. Using everyone around you to get what you want. While following Allard around like a little puppy. To bad, he is just using you while he tries to get to something better. I bet all I would have to do is bat my lashes at him and you would be forgotten in the dust, tramp!"

This caused Allard to speak out for the first time, "Everly that is enough! I know you are doing this in your sick condition but it has gone too far. Everly, leave Seph alone."

I felt the wicked grin come across my face, "Oh so the little piece of shit is not as blinded by his obsession as we think. You are falling for her aren't you?"

Everyone was silent as Allard stared at me slack jawed, eyes wide, "He is finally with out words. What a reaction to a silly little question. Oh my you have already fallen in love with her. I feel sorry for her."

He slumped back against the wall and stared at the floor. Seph sat there in silence but she would not take her eyes off him. I sat back in victory a smirk on my face, but my silent celebration was ruined as Drayton spoke up, "You need to stop this. All you are doing is setting yourself up for misery. If we get out of this and you get better the real you is going to feel terrible for all you are doing. You are just bringing harm to yourself."

I had already felt the fever passing and new my anger was about to die out. With my last bit of anger-fueled energy, I fixed him with the deadliest glare I could. Then I slumped in exhaustion as my anger left me. I let my head hang down as the silent tears fell. I could not control what I said and I did not mean any of it. Why was I doing this?

I refused to move my gaze from the floor and see what damage I had caused this time. There was a heavy silence around us all as they knew that my anger/fever had passed for the moment. I just hope that they understand that I do not mean any of it and that I cannot stop myself. I sighed in defeat as I knew the chain of thoughts I was following was a never-ending spiral of hurt and self-blame.

I tried to push all of the thoughts away and concentrate on trying to think of anything I could to get us out of here. A chill shot through my body so hard that my body jerked and I felt a sharp pain in my wrist. All the struggling I had done had worn down the skin on my wrists and that was the final pressure it needed. I looked over to see a small line of blood trailing down my arm. The silence in the room changed. Before it had been sullen and heavy, but now it was tense and oppressive. I looked up to see three sets of red vampire eyes on me.

Though I knew, they could not break out to get me I was still struck with fear. I quickly looked to my left, "Kayd."

He would not even look up and acknowledge that I had spoken his name, "Kayd please!"

He sighed and as he lifted his head up and looked around everyone relaxed but the tension did not leave the room. Sephina looked disgusted with herself and refused to look at anyone. Allard was trying to talk to her but she refused. Drayton looked horrified. I could only guess what was going through his head, but I believe it had to do with the fact that if he had been able to break loose I would be dead right now, by his hand. I had relaxed back but I was still shaken. I could be dead now, all because of my blood and their massive hunger from being locked up. All they did was smell it and they could not stop them selves. If they had tasted my blood, they would have…

"That is it!" I could barely contain my excitement.

My sudden out burst made everyone jump and look at me.

"What is it Everly?" Allard was the first to speak, but I was too caught up in my revelation.

"I cannot believe we did not think of this sooner."

Then Drayton spoke, "Everly what is it?"

"It was right here in front of us the whole time, an easy escape."

Sephina was getting frustrated, "Damn it Everly spit it out!"

I looked to her with a big grin on my face. I am sure by now they thought I had gone crazy.

"My blood."

"No!"

"Of course!"

"What?"

Everyone except Kayd spoke at once I could barely make out who said what. It was obvious that Sephina had said what since she was the only female voice, and of course Drayton had said no. Allard was in agreement with my plan. Which I guess was a good thing, since it was more than likely going to be him that would have to do it.

As I started to open my mouth to explain what exactly we would need to do Drayton interrupted.

"No! Absolutely not! There is no way we are doing this!"

Allard interrupted his rant, "It is our only option."

"No it is not our only option. There is another way!"

I hated to single him out and point out his flawed view of the situation, but it was the only way.

"Oh really and what is it Drayton? What is this other way that you have come up with?"

He just stared at me with hurt and denial in those red and blue eyes, "That is what I thought. This is the only way. Allard and Kayd are the closest to me. One of you will have to drink some of my blood."

Seph spoke, "I may not like you but this might actually work to get us out here, I will give you that."

"Alright since we are, for the most part, in agreement and understand what is going to happen we need to decide who it is going to be."

"I will do it."

Kayd's voice stunned us all. None of us had expected him to speak let alone say he would do it. I believe we had all assumed it would be Allard.

"Kayd wait-" Drayton started to speak but Kayd interrupted him.

"I have to do this if it will get me out of here and to Leila, and you know that I have no connection to Everly. I am not emotionally attached or addicted to her blood. My powers will keep me from killing her."

Silence fell around the room as I leaned in as far as I could to Kayd, but I could only reach him with my infected left leg.

"Kayd, I don't think this is going to work. I thought we would be able to reach each other better."

"It is fine Everly. I will just have to drink from your leg, but it will be a bit more painful. I do not have the sustenance needed to be able to release your endorphins. Just do not pull away"

"What about the infection?"

"It will be alright. If anything it will help draw most of it out."

I nodded my head and stretched my leg out. It was a very awkward situation, as I had to hold my leg up to his face. It took every fiber of my being not to jerk away as he bit down and the pain shot through my leg. I cringed as a bit my lip to keep from crying out and looked away. Yet this resulted in me looking right at Drayton. The thought of feeding and the smell of blood had him fighting an internal battle. I could see the red rings in his eyes expand out and nearly cover all the blue before they would recede back to his pupil.

We held each other's gaze while Kayd drank. It felt like he had been drinking for hours, though in reality, it had not even been a minute and as more time passed I could see Drayton growing tenser. I was starting to feel weak. Drayton noticed my head start to roll to the side as my eye lids started to droop.

"Kayd!"

I felt his mouth release as my leg fell and a small splash resounded around the room as it landed in the water. I could not pull my leg back to me. The only sound in the room was of Kayd's unsteady breathing. I heard the sound of chains breaking and caught a glimpse of Kayd in front of me. This was followed with more sounds of chains breaking and I felt my arms fall free. Relief flooded through me as I let my body slide down the wall. I did not even have the strength to care that I was lying in water, as I smiled and let darkness consume me.

_Drayton POV_

As soon as my chains were broken I went and lifted Everly up out of the water. The last thing we needed was for her to turn and drowned her self.

"Let's get out of here."

I turned to Allard, "There is no point in leaving just yet. Unless you think we can get out of here with me having to carry Everly. Plus we need some sort of plan."

"I cannot believe I am about to say this twice in one day. I hate him but he is right. We need to know what we are going to do and where we are going to go," Seph said as she turned to Allard.

Kayd spoke as he came up to us, "I can break down the door to get us out of here. Actual escape is not a problem. Then we go get the bastard responsible. I am getting her back."

I placed my hand on his shoulder, "I know Kayd, but we do not even know who it is we are after. Is it one vampire or more? Why are they doing this? We need to know where we are going and what we are getting into."

Seph sighed, "And how do we figure all this out from in here?"

We all turned to the door as we heard a commotion down the hall. I sat Everly down where she had been chained as we all situated ourselves back against the wall in our previous positions and listened to the conversation.

"When is he going to come?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"Well your one of the ones that gets his orders. What are we suppose to do with them?"

There seemed to be just the two werewolves out in the hall, a younger male and an older male, until a female voice joined the conversation.

"If you have not heard anything yet, maybe he just wants to starve them to death."

"No he does not want all of them dead, and we have heard something. Apparently, he wants to have a little fun with them as he does not want them dead but he does want them weak. So we are only to feed them enough to sustain their life."

The female sounded irritated, "But he did not say when he was going to come get them? Many of our people do not like having them here. It makes them nervous."

"No he did not say when but it should be soon. Tell them to deal with it for the time being. Doing this keeps us protected from the vampire counsel. You know the treaty; we are not supposed to be living this close to their domain. All we have to do is feed them and wait, that is all."

The younger male had been quite for some time, and when he finally spoke he sounded scared, "How are we suppose to feed them?"

"I sent out two runners last night. They brought back some bags of medical blood."

The female obviously did not like what she was hearing, "You expect us to stand in there and hold these bags up to their faces while they feed. I do-"

She was cut off by the sound of the door banging closed. Then the older male spoke, "Here is the blood now. You two will go in there and fee-"

The younger male cut him off, "But the blood will give them back some of there strength, what if they break out?"

"They could not break out of them when we first put them there. They will not be able to break out of them now. Now for the mynx we will do just as we did for the last one that was here and take her some of the leftovers. Now get in there before I feed you to them."

I barely registered the sound of the door closing as he left them behind. My mind was racing. They had another mynx here. What happened to her? My gaze went to Everly. If we failed what would happen to her? I was pulled from my despairing thoughts by Allard's hushed voice.

"This is our chance. Kayd you are the strongest at the moment, once they start feeding two of us we will attack. Until then, Kayd calm us so we can be in control, be ready."

We heard the click of the door unlocking and as it swung open, we were hit with the smell of blood. Just as I was about to lose it I felt Kayd's power. The two did not even speak to each other. The female apparently to mad to talk, and the younger male too scared. They made two mistakes when they entered the room.

Mistake one was closing the door behind them. Mistake two was turning their backs to Kayd as the female started to feed me and the male fed Sephina. If they could do it again the logical thing would have been to have one them feeding while the other watched and then switch out, but there were no second chances here. Allard and Kayd both came forward silent as night. Kayd headed for the female, the obvious stronger of the two, and Allard went for the young male. As they reached their backs I made eye contact with Kayd and Seph made eye contact with Allard. We struck as one.

No sounds escaped from them as we crushed their necks and fed. Kayd tried to keep our blood frenzy down to a minimum, but there was still blood everywhere. With Kayd's help I only took what I needed and no more. While Allard and Sephina finished off the bags of blood I decided to go scout out the rest of the dungeon. I felt a presence to my right just as I was taking my first step out of our cell into the dungeon's hallway. However, it was too late. I instantly felt a hand wrap around my throat as I was picked up and thrown back into my cell. I felt a slight pressure on my back and a chill passed through my body as I went through the air. Kayd tried to reach out for me to ease my impact but he was too late. I collided into the wall of our cell with such force our cell shook and the stone wall cracked and a few pieces crumbled away.

_Everly POV_

I was sitting in our cell but the others were not here. I knew I was dreaming all of this. I remembered welcoming the sweet bliss of darkness after Kayd fed from me. Yet something felt off about this dream. There was a presence here that felt familiar to me. Even though I felt no threat the mere familiarity was enough to put me on the defensive. I was not going to take any chances.

"_Everly…"_

It was the haunting whisper of a woman's voice. It sounded so familiar but I could not place it. Where did I hear her before? I slowly made my way out of my cell. Just as I headed out into the hallway I saw the ghostly figures of three werewolves standing in the hallway. I quickly back tracked into my cell only to catch the flickering ghostly images of Drayton, Kayd, Sephina, and Allard. What is going on? I was starting to feel panic tightening my chest. Am I dead and catching glimpses of the living?

I caught a quick flicker to the side and had to wait some time for it to come into focus again before quickly disappearing. It was an image of me asleep against the wall. I felt all my muscles relax as some of my panic left me. I was somehow seeing what was going on while I slept.

I could see their mouths moving but could not hear their words. I watched them ignoring the voice that was calling my name. I noticed that when they moved their images became clearer. I saw two of the werewolves come in and turned away as I saw Allard and Kayd going up behind them. I knew what was to follow and I did not want to see it. Instead I tried to catch glimpses of myself and make sure I was alright. When I was sure they were done I turned around to see blood everywhere. Drayton had stood up while Allard and Sephina still drank. I headed for the door way finally giving into the beckoning voice. When I stepped out and started down the hallway I saw the ghostly figures of vampires headed right for me. I ran back into the cell screaming my warning. They had no idea what was headed for them. Drayton walked right past me. I screamed at Kayd, but he never even blinked.

I turned around just in time to see a hand around Drayton's throat. Then he was flying backwards. On instinct I tried to catch him. He was headed straight for me. I braced myself as I threw my arms around him but he passed right through me. I shuddered as I heard his impact and turned to see the damage done. He was getting back up as Kayd and the others readied their stances for the oncoming fight. I saw Drayton glance over at my flickering image before he lunged forward. I turned just in time to see him meet mid air with the lead vampire of the group right in front of me.

"_Everly come now!"_

"_Everly!"_

Recognition hit me like a bolt of lightening. She was the mynx from that dream I had. The one the night before this all started. No matter how much I wanted to stay I knew that I could do nothing for them. I ran out into the dungeon's hallway, it was the same from my dream how had I not recognized it before. I went down the hallway as fast as I could looking in cells along the way. I felt the mark on my cheek warm up as I passed a cell and quickly back tracked. There she was chained against the wall. She was not a ghostly figure like the others but she had a faded look to her, something was not right. She looked up at me through long strands of dark blonde hair with her vibrant green eyes.

"_Poor child, this was not meant for you. No matter how hard we tried we failed."_

"What was not meant for me? And who all failed?"

"_They found out about her. They wanted her and would stop at nothing. He used his connections with the vampires to take her away, to save her, his love. She was pregnant and the child would share her fate if allowed to live."_

"What child? Who are you talking about?"

"_We escaped to the states. Her trail was lost. We all lived together happily, until that day we got the news. His contacts sent a message that they knew where she had gone and would stop at nothing to have her. They thought she was the only one, all that was left, and to have her blood would be to have power."_

Tears escaped my eyes as I saw where this story was headed. I did not want to hear anymore, but could not form the words to stop her.

"_They did not know of me. She had already done so much for me. We were best friends and she even considered me a sister. I could not let them take her not when she had beautiful innocent little moonlight to raise and protect. So we set the plan in motion and I let them take me in her place. It was all to protect her and to keep you from this world of murder and deceit where you would be seen as nothing more than a food slave. Yet, here you are moonlight, a sign of our failure."_

Memories from my past flashed before me. She was always with my mother. They looked almost the exact same sitting there laughing and smiling as a five year old version of myself ran up throwing herself into the woman's arms calling out her name, "Aunt Marcy!" The words echoed through out my head as I looked at the woman before me. She looked up at me with pleading eyes and I ran forward to embrace her.

"Aunt Marcy," I cried into her hair.

"_Oh dear moonlight, it was not but a year ago that he found out about you. He would talk to me of you and how you had tried to abandon your past. You had started going by Everly. Your mother, father, and sister dead and it were as if you walked into the Lion's den when you moved over here. I tried to reach out to you and find you, but it was so hard. Then your powers as a half blood started to become more active and I was able to call you to me. I wanted to tell you to move away, leave no trace, but then he showed up."_

"You did all you could Aunt Marcy; now leave it up to me. I will get you out of here and away from him."

"_You are a threat to his whole house. They had passed laws to preserve our species once they realized they had drove us to near extinction, but it was too late. There were too few of us left, and it is punishable by death to feed from one of us with out consent. If the other houses found out how he gets his power it would ruin him. He was protected when I was the only one and was already held captive by him with no way for word to get out. Then he found out the true story when he found you and once he found out I had called out to you he panicked. He did not know how much you knew, what you could say against him. So he decided you needed to die."_

"I will not be the one that is dead when this is over with. I can promise you that Aunt Marcy," I could not keep the venom from my voice as I spoke. This bastard had tortured her and bled her for years because she had given her self up for my mother and me. Now it was time to return the favor. I would exact my revenge on him and save her.

"I will save you from all of this."

Something changed as she sadly smiled at me. She seemed to fade even more.

"_He changed his plan."_

"What do you mean he changed his plan? What is happening?"

"_I had been slowly dieing and did not have much time. He saw this and changed his plan."_

Realization hit and the tears started to fall. She is talking in past tense, she looks different than everyone else, and she is fading. I did not even care of the hints she gave of my fate if we failed. All I cared was that I was too late to save her.

"No Aunt Marcy! I will find a way to save you, just hold on! Please hold on!"

She kissed my cheek before she spoke, _"He has already made the way clear for you to take my place. Stay strong moonlight."_

I was trying to hard to find a foundation for my denial that I could not even say anything. She merely smiled at me as she continued to fade away. Before she fully faded her face turned to one of fear and said her final word.

"_Nozfuretu."_

It came out as barely a whisper and I could hardly comprehend what she had said. Silent tears fell as I turned away and stepped out into the hall. I felt a sudden urge to get back to my real body as a sharp chill jolted through me. Then I heard his voice.

"Yes stay strong moonlight. I will need you that way."

I looked over to see him standing there red crosshair eyes boring into me. I knew now why I needed to get back to my sleeping form. I bolted down the hallway chased by his laughter. It seemed like everywhere I looked all I would see is red crosshairs. I made it to the cell and ignored the ghostly figures fighting around me as I ran to where my flickering image had been.

I lay down in the exact same position as he came through the doorway. The last thing I saw before waking up was of him lunging at me, cross hairs bleeding crimson to consume the eyes.

_Drayton POV_

I got up as fast as I could try to shake off the effect of the impact. I knew a bloody fight was going to break out and Everly could not even protect herself. I glanced over at her with the hope that maybe they were here just for us and would ignore her or not notice her at all. Kayd let out a warning growl as I turned to see the lead vampire leaping towards me. I met his challenge as I flew through the air and we collided in a test of strength trying to wrestle the other to the ground while avoiding swiping fangs.

I could hear the battle break out around me. I could not tell their numbers all I knew was of the vampire in front of me. Neither of us could gain the upper hand in our struggle. Only a stroke of luck at the hands of Kayd was I able to fling him to the ground. Kayd had kicked one of the vampires into him knocking him off balance. I rushed at my advantage of his weakened position only to throw my weight on to my left foot and turn my forward momentum to the right just barely missing the dagger aimed for my throat.

Though I missed the dagger, my change of direction sent me into my second confrontation with the wall. I threw my arms out to brace for the impact. I felt parts of the old wall crumble beneath my hands as I fell to my knees. I knew that he was coming up behind me with the dagger so I looked around me for any form of weapon. Something just to my right caught my eye. I pushed up and off the wall as I turned to meet his attack. He was already slicing at me from his right. I threw out my left arm to ward off his attack, and followed through with my right to bash his head in with a big chunk of rock that had fallen from the wall.

His knees buckled and he crumpled to the floor. He was given no mercy and no chance to recover. For as soon as his knees hit the ground Kayd's hands wrapped around his head from behind and with a quick twist and a sickening pop all light left his eyes.

For the fist time I was able to chance a look around. There were six vampires left. Four were trying to gang up on Allard and Seph. Allard struck out with strength and illusions as Seph weaved a deadly dance around him. The other two had taken advantage of Kayd's distraction of killing their friend by both coming at him from behind to quickly put him on a defense that relied on blocking and falling back. They quickly worked their way close to me and I came to my brother's aid with a swift kick to one of their faces as I grabbed the other and sent him flying past me. I took no notice of what direction I sent him as our fight continued.

_Allard POV_

As I did a quick back step away from them I slightly bumped into Seph's back, the four of them now encircled us.

"I'm still not fully healed," I told her and noticed she threw a glance at me.

"It's not like you to talk in the middle of things like this."

Her point was taken, but the concern was there. The group was advancing slowly, taking a gauge of us. By now they knew there was something more to me than meets the eye, and Seph was no riff-raff either, having been trained by our house along side our personal soldiers. Thinking of this made me think of our current situation, these are no run of the mill agents. They are a different breed.

"We don't have time for contemplating," she spoke swiftly.

She apparently was thinking along the same lines as me.

"I know. I just have a bad feeling about this."

I briefly caressed her shoulder with my left hand, making her eyes slightly widen in confusion at such a stupid move. After already telling them I was weakened, and now leaving myself open, they sensed it too and made their move, expertly timed, masterfully done. They would have been quick, easy kills, our deaths would have. I grimaced as I threw out my power, warping their reality with a bright flash of radiance that left them stunned and immobile.

My hand that was on her shoulder tightened as she went to lunge at two on her side, wanting to maximize our opening. She did not know the opening would be lost before she got there. They staggered back and as their vision came back their faces contorted in confusion. Seph looked at me, obviously wanting to know what was going on. I let my power seep into her consciousness, and she saw what our poor unwitting enemies had encountered.

There were multiple illusions everywhere. More us as well as more them, I had even changed the appearance of two of our would-be assassins, changing them to Seph's and my likeness. I knew that things would go down in the drop of a hat, and my plan went through flawlessly. The ones I changed into our likeness moved towards one of the enemy clones, and the other two thought it an act from Seph and I. Their two comrades didn't even see their deaths coming, as the daggers plunged through them by the hands of their own friends.

I broke the illusion, and saw the look of surprise and pain as the agents saw what they had done to the two of their own. One, enraged, threw herself at us and I quickly hooked my arm around Seph's, and knew she understood as I hurled her around, her foot connecting with the poor foolish woman's chest, sending her spiraling into her friend.

"I didn't know your illusions were that strong," Seph commented as she stood up.

I shook my head, "I just don't like relying on it. Besides its not like I really need it with you around. Apparently I am not the only one full of surprises around here. I seem to remember I found you sitting behind a desk Miss Secretary."

"Well I had my own personal motivation for learning how to kill."

As I glanced over at Drayton in acknowledgement of her comment I saw the two vampires getting back up with fire burning in their eyes. I cursed at myself for talking instead of finishing them off. They reached us in seconds and our battle continued.

_Everly POV_

Though I had woken up I still felt the power of his impact with me. My body slung up against the wall seemingly by some invisible supernatural force. The back of my head collided with the wall making a sickening smack as my vision blurred and darkness closed in around the edges. I knew my head was bleeding as I tried to hold my self up. My head lolled to the side. I shut my eyes and then opened them trying to get them to refocus. What I saw headed right for me were a pair of blood red eyes. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as the vampire came at me. He was already to close for me to save myself. It was probably just my imagination with the sudden outcome of events, but the air around me became thick with the smell of the blood coming from my head wound.

I did not know what all was going on around me. All I was sure of was that there was a vampire, in blood rage, headed for me, he could smell my blood, and I could do nothing about it. All I had time for was to throw my arms up. As he slammed me in between the wall and himself his fangs tore through my shoulder. I could not contain the ear-piercing scream that ripped its self from my throat as the pain coursed through my body. In seconds, he was ripped away, and Kayd stood before me as a sob escaped my lips.

_Allard POV_

Though we stayed side by side, Seph and I fought our own battles. I could not help but check on her ever so often when I would knock my opponent away. Though I do not know why I even thought I would have to check. Every time she had the upper hand. I chanced one more look to see her mid action. The other vampire had made a crucial mistake in thinking she had Seph on the defensive. She left her self open as she lunged forward only to be met with Seph's foot connecting with her neck.

I turned back to my own fight and blocked an attack as I heard the sickening crack. As I was mid strike, I heard the piercing scream vibrate off the walls around us. I could not stop the reflex of looking to Everly. If I had been able to I might have pulled back my attack. Instead I did not notice the vampire sidestep my over extended attack and step in with a counter on my overly exposed body. I immediately knew this was the end.

I closed my eyes and waited for the pain. I heard the sickening sound of the dagger plunging through a body, but I felt no pain. I opened my eyes to see my dark angel's face before me, light quickly dimming from her dazzling green eyes. I looked further down to the see the bloody tip of a dagger protruding from her chest.

Her body slumped against me as I yelled out. With what strength she had left, she pressed her lips to mine and whispered against them.

"All I wanted was you."

I crushed her lips to mine hoping to convey the amount of all my feelings to her in what would be our last moment ever. Half way through I felt her body's complete release. Rage filled me; I pulled the dagger out of her back as I gently laid her down. The poor vampire before me stood ready for a fight. He had no idea what he had just got himself into. His cocky look quickly faltered as he gazed at me, the demonic masterpiece he had unwittingly created to lead to his own destruction.

I assaulted his mind with painfully blinding flashes of light as I stalked forward. When his vision would just clear up I made it to where he would see five of me stalking towards him only to be blinded again. He backed his way towards the wall blindly throwing his arms around him trying to block attacks that were not coming. When he would connect with an illusion, it would disappear only adding to his despair. When his back finally hit the wall, he only saw me as whimpers escaped from his lips. I cried out in rage as I repeatedly stabbed him with his own dagger. The very dagger he had taken her life, my life, with.

I was covered in his blood as I left his body to slide down the wall, and turned to face Drayton, Allard, and Everly. I mentally vowed to complete my vengeance on the one who had orchestrated this attack. It only took two words from Everly for me to know my target. She sat there shaken and pale as she looked up at us and weakly spoke.

"Nozfuretu...Cross-hairs."


	29. Chapter 29

_Everly POV_

I am not sure what to feel. Shock? Sadness? Fear? Relief? The emotions run through me all displaying across my face as my breathing rate increases. My rapid breathing had brought most of the attention back to me. Kayd and Drayton are on either side of me looking at me with concern and confusion. Allard does not even stop. My mind finally sets on one emotion, and like pouring gasoline on a fire, my anger roars inside of me blazing in my eyes. My rapid breathing stops with a sharp exhale. The sudden silence even makes Allard stop his started progress down the hall. I stand on shaky legs and feel the pounding in my head. I reach my hand back and feel the warm blood matting my hair to my skull. The pain instantly dulls and my legs ground me. My anger is my fuel and a growl escapes my lips. Drayton reaches a hand half out towards me in hesitation, not sure what to do or what to expect.

I walk right past him and out of the cell. I have walked past Allard before they regain themselves and follow me. Allard is behind me in silence as Drayton and Kayd follow talking in low voices to each other. Small parts of their conversation reach me and slow my progress until I stop to look at them. I can feel the anger radiating off me and know it is having an effect on me but I did not expect physical effects.

"But her eyes…"

Drayton trails off as he and Kayd realize I am looking at them. My vision is sharper, my movements are faster, but I had summed it up to be a cause of my adrenaline. My body and mind feel confused by my new stance. I am no longer moving forward towards vengeance. I am no longer moving at all and instead of looking towards the kill, I am contemplating the two men before me.

Kayd looks at me, curiosity clear on his face as Drayton comments, "Now they are shifting back and forth."

I cannot even find words in my moment of confliction, and just continue to stare at them until Kayd speaks.

"They are shifting between the likes of a domestic cat and the wild feline ready to pounce on her latest meal."

I try to picture what my eyes look like normally as a mynx. I see the enlarged light green iris and the small almost oval shaped pupil and then I see them change as the pupil dilates nearly engulfing the green. The visualization is terrifying and sends questions racing through my mind, yet I do not act on them. This visual also brings up a feeling of need, for the hunt and the kill.

The thought of it, my vengeance, my coming reckoning, compels me onward. It fills me with pleasure but keeps me running high. The only thing I could liken it to is a drug, an addictive drug that swallows you in darkness disguised as light. I cannot help but want more as I feel my will give and fall into the feeling. Though it has to be a trick of the mind, I can feel my pupils dilate as my senses run on high. I turn from the two men before me to continue on my way.

Yet as I turn I catch the view of the cell I was about to pass. Blood covers the walls; I know what I will find in there. My body steps forward even as my mind is tore into conflict again. I do not want to see it, yet I need to see it. I need to see it to add to my fire, to throw me over that final ledge of confliction. I feel a small restraint, a weak tug, as a quiet worry drifts through my mind barely heard.

"What if this is a one way path? Am I going to lose my self, my sanity? I may never come back from this."

Yet I still move forward, and stop breathing at the sight before me. I grip the bars of the cell, knuckles white as I feel the warm, sticky blood that coats them. Blood is splattered on the walls, trailing down to form puddles on the floor. In the midst of it all is Marcy; her body is horrifying to look at. She has bite marks all over and some places are even missing bits of flesh. Yet it seems that little blood has actually come from these wounds. The source of her death, the wound that caused the massive amounts of blood that sent Nozfuretu into blood rage that caused all the other damage, is the bloody gaping hole that exists where Marcy's throat use to be. It is right under her final facial expression of agony that carried over with her last breath.

Though I can still see the gruesome sight before me, I feel trapped in my mind staring down at the darkness waiting below that final ledge. I am barely aware of the sobs that are racking my body as I say, "Aunt Marcy," repeatedly. My vision seems to zoom in on her pained face, as I mentally take that final step over the ledge. As I feel my mind fall, my emotions run through me on high. I am aware that I am going insane just as the three men around me know, as I act out my emotions as they pass. I let out a hysterical laugh, a sharp gasp, a deep moan, a grunt of frustration. On they go, and as my final emotion of combined pain and sadness reach me I let out a strangled, body-jerking sob that leaves my throat feeling raw.

I fall to my knees as my hands still grip the bars. I barely register the presence beside me, reaching out for me. Some one issues a warning, "Back away from her," yet it is too late. A bone chilling sound escapes from my throat, likened to the roaring scream of a jaguar. In seconds I have Drayton by the throat and I am throwing him down the hallway. Seeing his face registers no emotion within me. All emotions are gone save for two. Vengeance and rage are all I have, all I recognize.

However, I do notice that his face does not match the face of the man responsible for my current state. Thus, he is not worth my time. I give no thought to his well-being as I turn and continue down the hall. He is here somewhere. Not only had Marcy's blood still been warm but also somehow, I know that for him to have so strongly appeared to me he has to be close by, even if mynx blood courses through him.

The thought of him being even stronger due to Marcy's blood heightens my anticipation. I want this fight and I want it to be hard and bloody. I quicken my pace up the stairs that lead out of the dungeon, following his lingering presence. I reach the door at the top of the stairs and start reaching for the handle when the hairs on the back of my neck rise.

I quickly step back almost knocking down the men behind me. I bend at my knees as I bring my hand back ready to strike. The door swings open as I lunge forward. I have my hand around the neck of the vampire who opened the door in seconds as the momentum from my lunge fly us through the air. The other vampire with him barely moves out of the way in time so he is not taken down with us. I position my self so that all the force from me would transfer through my hand as we slam down to the floor. This results in his neck crushing upon impact.

I glare down at him as I see he is not the one I am after. I whip around ready to face the other. Upon looking at him, I see he is not Nozfuretu either. I leave him behind with the others as I continue down the hallway. I try to listen to every slight noise around me. A sound of muffled cries pulls me to a door to my left. As I open the door, I look upon the sight of a bound and gagged female vampire. Her red hair and striking green eyes brings forth a brief recognition in my mind. The name Leila flashes brightly in my mind as it along with all emotions tied to it try to find a hold in the dark ominous place my mind has become. Pain follows as Vengeance quickly strikes back at the invasive light. My head feels like an axe is striking it and burning pain consumes me.

My hands are on my head pulling at my hair as my mouth forms silent screams. My knees buckle and hit the floor with a painful thud. I feel one of the men rush past me and watch as he embraces her. Tears are streaming down their faces as another round of pain hits me. This time a strained cry leaves my mouth. I hear my name called but I cannot face the holder of that voice. Not in the state I am in. Vengeance and hatred compel me back out of the room. One thought screams at me, as the light is temporarily held back, to get far away from the light's source.

I take off running down the hall taking turns on instinct. The place seems like a labyrinth to my vengeance blind mind. I finally stop and take a ragged breath as I lean against the wall. I take in the scents around me and the hair on the back of my neck rises. I can smell him he is near me. My mind becomes giddy with morbid thoughts of the different acts of vengeance I can perform on his body. On light feet, I move forward down the hall. I take one more turn and come to a glass door. I step right up to the door, my breath fogging the glass as I take in the scene on the other side. The light threatens to come crashing down as I see them, but as soon as I lay eyes on him the light is extinguished and death fills my thoughts as I open the door and slowly stalk into the room.

_Allard POV_

I hear Everly cry out and Drayton call her name, but my eyes are on Kayd and Leila. Watching the tears streaming down their faces as they embrace, the cavern in my heart widens as I look upon this scene. I hear some concern spoken about Everly, Kayd stands and moves towards us as I turn to look at her only to find myself staring at her back as she runs down the hall.

Drayton and I both go to follow her but Kayd yells a warning. I quickly turn around to see three werewolves and four vampires coming down the hall towards us. I do not even wait to see what the others plan to do as I take off running towards the oncoming assault. The words "death wish" reaches my ears. I do not know who spoke them but the words brought a picture of Seph to the front of my mind. Do I have a death wish?

Yes, but I will take as many of the bastards with me as I possibly can.

With that thought, I take a final step and brace my self, using all my forward momentum to dive forward. A quick push of my mind and I see horror fill some of their eyes as five more of me perform the same dive. I land on the first vampire and quickly crush his skull then flick my wrist and snap his neck for extra measure. I feel wind rush past me and see the back of Drayton as he lands in the middle of the fight slinging elbows and throwing punches.

I hear something snarl to my left and narrowly miss having my arm torn off by a werewolf. The hall may have been quite big compared to your standard hall but there was not enough room for all the werewolves to be able to fully turn to their wolf forms. So they partially phased and I was now staring at the iconic media image of the werewolf. Standing on two nearly human like legs with the upper torso of a wolf, whole body covered in hair, gold feral eyes, and a snarling snout dripping saliva. It is actually quite more fearsome than when they are fully turned.

The beast's legs bend, the muscles coiling. He is getting ready to lunge at me and my only options are to brace for the impact and try to counter or dive into the room beside me. Some of the fight had caused the doors to be broken in. The door to an office on my left was one of those doors and the light gleaming off a familiar, decorative short sword caught my attention. Recognition hits but is not something I can dwell on now. The sword seemed to be the best option. Barbaric yes, but it would do as long as its blade held even a bit of a sharpened edge.

He lunges and I send a blinding flash to his mind. The resounding howl of surprise and rage follows me as I dive into the room. Following through the dive with a roll so that I can come straight to my feet in front of the desk in the office, I do not waste time to see if he has recovered. I slide over the desk and grab the short blade. As I turn, I sweep the blade across the top of my arm. With some added pressure, I finally feel the bite of the blade. Not as sharp as I would have liked but at least it has some sharpness to it. My quick test is over as I fully turn, facing the werewolf as he stalks into the room.

Obviously thinking he has me cornered he does not bother to take notice of his surroundings. This mistake will cost him his life. As he draws close, I kick out at the desk between us successfully flipping it over and sending what few contents remained, after my earlier slide over it, flying towards him. It is enough to disorient him but not enough to cause him pause as he lunges over the desk and through the papers that were slowly drifting to the floor. I knew I would not be able to come out of this attack unscathed. I use that thought to my advantage I prepare what strength I can into my arm holding the sword and slightly turn my body, hoping to use the momentum from his attack to spin me the rest of the way. Luck just happened to be on my side for the moment as that is exactly how this played out. My slight turn moved me out of the way of his main attack but his clawed hand caught my shoulder. As he drags his claws through me, I use the force to fully turn me and add strength to my other arm. As I turn back around, I angle the blade and send it through his back just to the upper right side of his left shoulder blade. This sends the blade through to his heart and he cries out as taking no chances I twist the blade left then right before removing it from his back. He falls forward and smacks against the wall. Blood trails after him as he slides down it. I had not thought the blade would have gone through the other side but the smeared trail of blood along the wall proves me wrong.

I turn back around and head towards the door. As I step back out into the hall, I see Kayd standing over a decapitated vampire. A quick look to the right shows another dead werewolf, a dead vampire, and Drayton smashing in the skull of the last vampire. I advance on the last werewolf. He lunges at me, but Drayton collides with him. We are both about to tear into to him when Kayd call out.

"Wait! Leila needs to drink. Snap his neck or whatever but don't spill his blood."

I turn my back on them and head back into the office to the stabbed werewolf. I jerk his head back and bite into him. I will need all the strength I can get. After he is drained, I head back into the room that held Leila. She was now free and looking much healthier after having fed. She was talking to Drayton trying to calm him down and keep him from blindly tearing down the halls after Everly. Kayd stands behind her, his hand always touching her. I do not blame him for the needed contact. I would give anything to be able to touch or even hear Seph again.

"We have to find her!"

Drayton's voice tears me from my spiraling depression. He is right we do need to find her. She is exactly what Nozfuretu is after and she is all alone wondering around the halls. No matter the seemingly psychotic murderous state she seems to be in, she is still in danger. Leila seems to be getting nowhere with Drayton so I decide to step in and try it.

"Drayton no matter what, the main thing we need to do now is remain calm. Freaking out and tearing through this place is going to do nothing to help Everly. For all Nozfuretu knows we are all still together. If he hears that we are tearing through here like mad people screaming her name he is going to know that she is out on her own, and then we might as well but her on a sliver platter with garnish and a big free dinner sign above her head."

I know that I have gotten through to him when he hangs his head. Kayd is the next to speak up, "It will be more of a risk but with as large as this place is we will need to split up to increase our chances of finding her."

Silence hangs in the room as we take in his idea. He is right of course but it is still hard to accept. I look around at all their faces. We all know what is at stack and what we have to do. My eyes rest on the sight of Kayd and Leila. There is no way that we would be able to get Kayd away from her so there was no point in even having a discussion on who would pair up. I spoke out ready to be on my way, "Drayton, you and I will pair up so that leaves Kayd and Leila together."

Drayton nods at me acknowledging that he had thought the same as me. I can see the relief on both Kayd and Leila's faces. Seeing no objections I continue, "We already know what way she headed but the hall splits off in many directions. We are at one of House Ziminiar's homes. They use this house mostly for social gatherings. I did not know this was where we were until my fight in that office where I found this short sword that I have seen on more than one occasion. I cannot say that I have been everywhere, mostly in the dining hall and surrounding areas since I am from a council house, but from what I could tell from my previous visits, we are near the atrium. There is a dead end in the direction that Everly took and she would have to take a left or right. We can split there and pretty much no matter what direction you take you will end up in the atrium. Hopefully we will find her there."

There is nothing left to discuss so we head out the door. When we come to the dead end, we do not even say anything to each other. Kayd and Leila head left and Drayton and I head right. We move silent and swift down the hall. The time we spent through the halls seems to short as we reach one of the many glass doors that leads to the atrium. We step through quickly and are standing in the middle of the room with no sight of Everly. I see the distress on Drayton's face and know what he wants to do. I call out to him as I walk over to him to keep him from going through the halls again.

"Drayton lets wait here for Leila and Kayd. Then we can split up again."

Surprise and anger mar his face as he dives towards me. I brace for the impact but he goes right past me. As I turn I feel the blast of power that takes my breath and sends me to my knees. Nozfuretu had entered the room and Drayton was going for the kill but did not make it in time. Now we are stuck on our knees as power seeps off Nozfuretu and engulfs the room. He stands before Drayton dressed in slacks and a white shirt only half buttoned. He has a knife in his hand with a wicked gleam in those cross-hair eyes and a sinister smile on his lips.

"Where is my mynx?"

Neither Drayton nor I can contain the growl that escapes our throats. He merely laughs at us.

"She is quite bewitching; all of that fire and spirit in her will be fun to break. Her blood will extend my families reign and grant me more strength and new powers."

He pauses for a moment, closing his eyes and smelling the air. He seems to sway on his feet for a moment before he opens his eyes, red seeping into blue. Knowing he is near to blood frenzy, his next words visibly shake Drayton and me.

"She is close."

He lifts the knife above Drayton's head, concentrating more power on Drayton making him tilt his head back as if begging for the knife. I feel Nozfuretu's hold on me weaken but it is still to strong for me to be able to move. All I can think of is Everly going through my pain. If Drayton dies, she will go through what I am going through. I feel my own pain flair at that thought, I owe her more than that. I struggle harder and I am able to move on to my feet. I will not make it in time. Just as the blade starts to move forward, Kayd and Leila run in. Kayd yelling no as they both try to dive for Nozfuretu and Drayton.

Nozfuretu stops the decent of the knife in order to throw his power at Kayd and Leila. In doing so he has gone over his powers limit. His cockiness was to my advantage. Kayd and Leila fell to their knees but I was free and moving forward.

"No more delays."

His voice rang out as he raised the knife above his head. As soon as he started to descend the blade towards Drayton, I tried to blind him with a flash in his mind. If it affected him he did not show it, as with out falter the knife continues its path and bit into flesh.

The original plan had been for me to dive on Drayton moving us both out of the way, but I guess subconsciously my mind wanted to fulfill that death wish. I stare from the blood seeping from my chest to the similar wound I had inflicted upon Nozfuretu with the decorative sword. Though he drops to his knees in front of me, I know it is just from the shock and pain. This wound will kill me but not him. His next words confirm as much but something else caught my eye.

"You honestly think this could kill me. I am no weakling like you. I will still win while all you have done is delay his death and you will die just to be forever alone in eternity."

I cannot keep the smile from my face as my peripheral vision starts to fade, "You see that is where you are wrong. I will not be alone in eternity. I have someone waiting for me," he growls and shoves the knife in to the hilt.

I gasp out in pain, but as the presence gets closer my smile returns, "and you will not win. You were dead as soon as she walked into this room."

His eyes widen and he tries to turn as the hellcat screams and lunges at him. He still manages to stand with her on his back, her teeth in his neck and clawing at his exposed chest. He tries to reach back for her but does not get far before her hands are around his head, claws digging into his skull as she twists. She lets out another panther scream as with a sickening snap and tear his head is in her hands and his body is falling to the floor blood spilling out around him.

I am in much the same manner as him, laid on the floor with my blood pooling around me. I can hear her voice calling to me welcoming me in warmth. I am more than content to undo these ties of life and go to her. My final vision is of Everly's torn face as she fights for the rights of her mind. My final thought is of her, "Will she ever get back her sanity?"

There is a sharp pain as my final tie to life breaks and it feels like my chest collapses in on itself as I let my final breath go. Warmth embraces me and I see her…..my Seph.

_Everly POV_

As I hold his head in my hands and I realize my vengeance I feel something snap inside me. I see Allard's dead body on the floor his blood around him. He sacrificed himself to save Drayton. My eyes land back on the bloody head in my hands and I am repulsed by it, not by the gore but of the man it belongs too. With out giving it another thought I throw the head across the room. It hits the wall and the sickening sound of it hitting the wall then the floor resounds through out the room, and echoes through my mind.

My eyes land back on Allard as Drayton calls my name. This time I decide to face the pain and turn towards him. As soon as my eyes land on him and I see the emotions playing across his face the pain hits and I am on the floor. I can hear myself crying out as the blinding light sears me. The light wants back in and though vengeance and hate have been sated and fulfilled their calling they do not want to let go. My mind is at war with its self and it feels like it is killing me. One second I am light and wanting to reach out towards Drayton, Kayd, and Leila and embrace them. The next second I am darkness and if they were to come near me, I would kill them. There is no middle ground and my mind is being torn in two.

Leila reaches out towards me and I nearly take her hand off while laughing. Then I am clutching my head, tears streaming down my face as I call for help.

I can hear them talking. All I can recognize are voices. I take in their words but they do not hold. I cannot recall the words.

"We have to do something!" that was Leila.

"I know but what can we do!" that was Kayd.

"Yelling is getting us nowhere, Kayd try and calm her." That voice was definitely Drayton.

"That only works on blood frenzy." Kayd again.

"Blood frenzy is a psychotic state of the mind when it is overpowered by the need for blood. Her mind is overpowered by vengeance. They are similar states of mind. Just please give it a try." Drayton's voice again this time it sounds desperate.

Are they going to try to help me? That is all I want is help. For someone to stop this pain and let me be me again, but who is me?

I can feel the darkness trying to take over again. Is that me? Am I darkness?

Light flashes blinding me and I cry out against the pain. If the light hurts me, it cannot be me, right?

Then the darkness strikes back against the light. The pain is overwhelming and I can feel my head on the cold floor. Darkness is hurting me too? But why? Am I not darkness?

Then I must be light, but light hurts too. Why am I hurting me? Which one is me?

I cannot help but cry aloud, "Who is me?"

The words echo through out the room and my mind. Light and Dark surge at the words and collide in equal force. I cry out in pain and curl into the fetal position. I hear some one yell, "Help her!" but the voices are lost. There is only darkness, light, and my words.

"Who am I? Darkness, darkness, light, light. I just want to be me. Help me be me."

I repeat my mantra over and over again to myself and any one that will hear. I can hear some one crying. It is not me all I have are my silent tears and my mantra. Some one else is in pain? Some one else is hurting? Are they like me, hurting like me?

I sit up my mantra still coming off my lips and reach out in front of me for the source of tears. My hand connects with another larger hand. It is soft and warm and I feel a calm coming over me. My mantra comes out as a whisper as the raging storm in my mind starts to fade. But if they are fading what is left? Is nothing left? Is that who is me, nothing? Fear courses through me. I do not want to be nothing. I try to fight the calm my whispered mantra replaced with another louder mantra as I panic and start to yell, "I don't want to be nothing."

I feel the hand pull my body forward and embrace me. I feel calming power coming from this person. All my fears are pushed away. Everything is pushed away and where I thought there would be nothing is a woman's voice speaking to me, "All will be fine moonlight."

My eyes open wide at the words and I whisper the only word that will come to me at this moment, "Mom."

Leila's tears start anew as she covers her face. Is she crying for me? Me? I feel the storm start to swell. I push back against it with the words of my mother, my new mantra. I feel it back down but just barely. Even in this state I do not feel right, I do not feel whole. I bottle up the feeling and look to the people around me. Leila is still crying. I pull out of Kayd's embrace whispering a thank you and head for her. I reach out to her, "Oh my gosh, Leila are you alright? Why are you crying? Did they hurt you?"

She shakes her head as the tears stream down her face and she hugs me. I wrap my arms around her and let the warmth of her friendship wash over me, renewing my strength. I pull back and ask her again if she is okay. She nods her head and smiles through tears still stream down her face. I step back and Kayd takes my place embracing her. I turn from them to end up looking right at Drayton as he stands before me.

"Drayton, I…"

My words are cut off as he wraps his arms around me and places his warm soft lips on mine. The kiss was soft but there was still that slight pressure showing his possessiveness and relief of the situation. I return the kiss feeling like it is where I should be but something also feels wrong. This is another feeling I bottle up and push away for Drayton's sake. As we pull back from each other, I whisper the one thing I want more than anything right now, "Please get me out of here?"

Drayton steps back but keeps one of his arms around me, keeping me against his side. He calls Kayd's name as we head for the door. As we step outside I wonder how long I can keep this up. How long can I keep the storm back? And how long can I keep that feeling of wrong between Drayton and myself bottled up?

We make it back to their house but no words are spoken of what happened or what was to come. We all decide to save the talk for later and settle for showers and sleep. The next day is when the darkness came surging forward with that feeling of wrong and I tried to kill Drayton. He comes into my room and lays in bed with me. When he put his arms around me and tried to kiss me, I almost snapped his neck. He stares at me in shock from the other side of the room as tears fill my eyes.

"I am sorry. The darkness is still there. I…I need to get away."

He tries to reach for me as I head for the door, "Everly wait, we can work through this."

"I can't work through this Drayton. Not right now, not here. If I killed you….." The tears spill over as I can not finish the sentence. He reaches out to hold me, but I pull away from him. The hurt is clear on his face, but there is an understanding there as well.

"I have to go home. I have to find myself and start over. As long as that storm is there in my mind, I am a threat to all of you. I have to get myself under control. I am so sorry." I try to hold back the tears, to stay strong, but a single tear still escapes. He brings his hand forward and cups my cheek as his thumb wipes away the tear. It is all I can do not to break down and cry into his chest, as I know my next words will hurt him.

"I am going back to Tennessee. Do not visit, do not call, do not text message, send letters, or even email. I do not want any contact with you. Not until I am ready, if I am ever ready. My mind has been through the blender ever since I came to England stress and pains have added up and now I feel broken. I am broken and the pieces will not pick up themselves. I have to do this and I need to do it alone."

He had dropped his hand from my check as soon as I said Tennessee. The hurt on his face is more than I can stand. So I turn away from him and walk out the door. Kayd and Leila are standing out in the hall watching me with sad expressions. I know they heard everything. I make it to the front door before he is spinning me around to embrace me. He pulls back and leans his forehead against mine, "No matter how long it takes, you find yourself and if you ever have any doubts or need any help I will be there."

I simply nod my head, softly kiss his lips, and then walk out the door.

_Ok first there will be an epilogue. Second Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms in the world! Finally it would take a whole page more to explain everything that has come up that is the reason for the delay in update. I have already put most of it on my profile so I will not repeat it for everyone's sake. To sum it up and give the most important reason writer's block/need for this chapter to be amazing and do the story justice and even now I am not completely content with this chapter but it is what I have come up with in the end. I am just not too sure about the ending of this chapter. Hopefully the epilogue will tie it up for yall and do right by my readers, my reviewers, and my story. I am so sorry it took this long and I am sure I lost many readers during that time but I hope this makes up for some of that. All of my readers/reviewers are amazing! I hope you enjoy this chapter and if yall have any problems with how this goes please, please let me know. And now here are the special shout outs to everyone who reviewed chapter 28 and also 27 since I wanted a fast update on chapter 28 and did not add them._

_**dawnvamp**_

_**clarrisse**_

_**EvaCJM**_

_**alistarsmusic**_

_**crazygirl2810**_

_**barefoot beauty**_

_**Lauralou13**_

_**rubiediamond**_

_**twin of darkness**_

_**Otaku Shoujoxx**_

_**luvsvamps**_

_**Yerbua-Syam**_

_**Babygirl52**_


	30. Chapter 30

**Epilogue**

_**Everly POV**_

_7 months later_

After a month or so back I had finally responded to the many emails, text messages, calls, and letters from Leila. No one could say that woman was not persistent. Though I loved the contact I still refused her offers of coming back or them coming to visit me. I expressed to her my need to find out more about who I am and make sure I was healed mentally before I would take that chance.

Though I kept the fact that I was not sure I ever would be well enough to see them again from her. She said they all understood and would do anything to help. This resulted in Kayd sending me all he could find on any related subjects, and it had been a lot. I sat curled on the porch swing, enjoying the warm late spring breeze, with one of the many research books I had read through since coming back home. I had learned many new things about being a Mynx and our history. As well as many interesting facts about the interactions between the Vampires and Mynx.

There were many books on the war between the Vampires and Werewolves, like the one currently in my hands. I had read this one book at least five times. It went into great detail about the Mynx involvement with the war and the repercussions that came of it. One passage in particular I had read over and over again.

_"The first giving of blood by free will seems to form a bond between the two participants. Though it was and still is highly recommended that blood only be giving on a Mynx to Vampire basis as some Mynx seem to react badly to Vampire blood entering their system. It should also be noted that for a few days after the first formation of the bond it is in a "raw" state that can sometimes lead to dependency on the other in a strained situation. During the time of the war romanticism was at large and the misconception of true love was formed from this reaction to the blood giving. This is a false ideal as the bond was later found to only be temporary. The length of the bond relies on how often blood was shared, and made stronger and hence forth longer lasting , if blood was freely giving on both sides and the Mynx survived. However all bonds still fade with time."_

It meant that the sensations I felt from Drayton were all related to this temporary bond. I should have felt better having this knowledge, knowing that this was going to fade if it had not already. Yet I find myself reading this bookmarked passage time and time again.

_I guess part of me wishes it was a true love scenario?_

With that thought I shook my head and laughed at myself.

_Seriously Everly? You have been reading way to many young adult romance novels._

Just as I was closing the book a familiar tingle, though extremely weakened, passed through me. My head shot up as I looked over to the porch steps and saw a familiar figure with a killer smile standing at the base of the steps.

"Drayton?"

My voice came out weak and breathless. I feared coming back into contact with any Vampire, especially Drayton, Leila, or Kayd, for the fear of what would happen. In this one moment the only thing that registered through my shock was the fact that I had no urge what so ever to rip his heart out. It must have ended up being a passing traumatic stage or the many months of accepting, healing, and resettling into myself.

I quickly stood up causing the porch swing to violently swing back only for it to crash into the back of my legs. I did not even register the impact as I looked to the man standing there looking at me. I had dreamed of this moment many times. The moment I would see him again, but then again to say I dreamed would be a lie.

They had been nightmares that always ended with him dead as my broken mind cackled. Goosebumps broke out across my arms as a shiver ran up my spine. Yet I forced myself to breathe as I searched myself again for any feeling of my previous state. When nothing surfaced I took slow cautious steps to the end of the porch. As I came to the top step I looked down at him.

He had not made a single move or spoken a single word and part of me was wondering if I was day dreaming. I started to turn away when I felt him grab my hand. My whole body went rigged, this was definitely not a dream.

"Everly?"

His deep voice reached out to me. I slowly turned back around to face him and removed my hand from his. I could not help but notice the hurt look that crossed his face. I know what he was expecting but things were different now, weren't they? The flutter in my chest told me the answer was probably no.

"Everly, how are you doing?"

I knew he was not meaning it for the casual pleasantry it came out as. He was asking if I was better. If I still wanted to wrap my hands around his throat like I had that morning long ago.

"Great, I was not so sure till this moment, but I am doing great," I reassured him with a small smile.

He let out a sigh of relief and quickly took the few steps in front of him to embrace me. I back stepped and stuck my hand out to stop him. The smile quickly fell from his face.

"Then what is wrong?"

He did not even try to hide the hurt in his voice. It took me a moment to try to get a handle on the different emotions running through me. Yet, no matter the effort they came falling out embodied in the words I could no longer hold on to and think logically through. I laid out my feelings before him.

"Things are different now, Drayton. A lot has happened in such a short time. Think back on what we have gone through and how it pushed us together, but also think about how much it has also changed us. We.. I am a different person now, and honestly ask your self how much we know of each other.

We barely know anything of each other. This is not some fated romance, some tale of true love. That stuff does not happen in real life, even in the life of the super natural. We were manipulated by the situation around us and the temporary blood bond. Honestly tell me you did not notice how weak the sensation was when you felt it?

The bond is fading, and will be gone with time. As much as I would like to keep fooling myself and you in to believing in some fated love, I can not do it. The facts have burned themselves into my mind. We can not go back to how things were before. We did not exactly start this whole thing like any normal couple any way."

I finally stopped my rant to catch my breath and try to get a read on Drayton's reaction. Many emotions flitted across his face, hurt, confusion, anger, desperation, hope, and determination.

_Wait hope and determination?_

I had been ready to continue but was struck silent by the look on his face. He stepped forward a smile spreading across his handsome face. I took another hesitant step back as he reached his hand out to me. We stood there for a while with his hand extended between us.

He sighed and extended his hand further as he spoke, "Lets start over."

Not real sure where he was going with this I placed my hand in his. As I gave him a skeptical look he raised my hand to his lips placing a soft kiss on the back of my hand.

"I am Drayton Devereux. May I ask your name?"

A look of disbelief crossed my features," Drayton, Wh-"

"Please just trust me."

A small smile twitched at the corners of my lips, "Beverley Rose, yet you may call me Everly."

"A beautiful name deserving of such a beautiful woman. My dear Everly would you do me the honor of going with me on a first date?"

I could not contain the small laugh that escaped my lips, "Drayton you can't be-"

"We can do whatever you want and hopefully learn more about each other in the process."

I smiled almost big enough to match him as I nodded my head yes not trusting my voice as my chest swelled with emotions. He took another step towards me releasing my hand.

"I hope you do not think I am being to forward, but I have wanted to do this for seven months now and I can not wait till after the first date."

With that he cupped my face in his hands and pressed his lips lightly to mine for only a moment before pulling back just enough to search my eyes for a reaction. I could not lie to Drayton or myself, I had also been waiting for this very moment. I wrapped my arms around his neck and brought his forehead to rest on mine.

I looked into his eyes as I softly spoke, "To a new beginning."

He smiled and matched my tone as he spoke, "A new beginning."

Then as we stood on the front porch, surrounded by the Tennessee country, in the middle of the warm spring we kissed to our new beginning and all it would bring.

* * *

_Author's Note_

_ Well that is the end. I am truly not sure how I feel about this but I wanted to get this done for ya'll and myself. I had a lot more information and detail but it seemed to just make this chapter run on and fade out with too many facts. So I ended up cutting a lot out of this. I know it has been almost a year since my last update and for that I am truly sorry. The biggest reason is that I have only had access to FanFiction through the mobile site on my phone because my computer decided to fry the mother board. Yippee! Then when we finally got a new computer it came with the all new windows 8 but our internet card was not set up to work with windows 8 so we lost our internet and just haven't gotten internet set up again since internet providers are limited in the country and we are in the process of moving. That added in with stressing over this epilogue has put a big delay on this. But it has finally come to an end and I hope it is a worthy ending. I would like to thank everyone who has supported both this story and myself, all my lovely readers, and reviewers. I am sorry I let ya'll down with this delay, but I am glad ya'll shared the journey with me. I have read through this story and realized many mistakes and seen some changes I would like to make. I am not sure when I will make these change. Though I will point out that I will be changing some things in the story but nothing that dramatically changes the story line. The story line will still follow along a similar line. Again I truly appreciate every single one of you!_

_love,_

_Emberlies_


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